The final phyllosoma, nisto, and first juvenile stages of the slipper lobster Petrarctus brevicornis (Holthuis, 1946) (Decapoda: Achelata: Scyllaridae)

Abstract

An unidentified final-stage scyllarine phyllosoma larva possessing a unique red-spotted pattern of chromatophores was found in sublittoral waters off Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. The phyllosoma was reared in the laboratory, metamorphosed into a nisto, and then first juvenile stage. DNA barcoding analysis using 16S rRNA gene identified these stages as the scyllarid (slipper) lobster Petrarctus brevicornis (Holthuis, 1946). As these stages were previously unknown, the morphology of the final-stage phyllosoma, nisto, and first stage juvenile are described and illustrated.