Larval development of Brachynotus sexdentatus (Risso, 1827) (Decapoda, Brachyura) reared under laboratory conditions, with notes on larval charactersof the Varunidae

The complete larval development of Brachynotus sexdentatus (Risso, 1827) wa s obtained by culture in the laboratory. Five zoeal stages, megalop and fir st crab are described and illustrated. Larval development from hatching to megalop stage took a minimum of 17 days at 23 degreesC. The morphological c haracters of the larvae of B. sexdentatus are compared with those of the pr evious descriptions of plankton-collected material and other known larvae o f the genus Brachynotus. Larval features of the recently redefined Varunida e are evaluated taking into account all previous larval descriptions from t his family. A combination of consistent characters can be used to distingui sh varunid zoeas and megalops stages from the early life stages of all othe r grapsoid families.