Decapod Crustacea from the International Indian Ocean Expedition (Larval and post-larval stages ofParapenaeusSmith (Penaeinae)

Abstract

Summary Developmental stages of Parapenaeus investigatoris Alcock and Anderson from second protozoea to late post-larva and an incomplete series of P. longipes Alcock and P. fissurus (Bate) are described and figured. Important generic characters of the larvae of Parpaenaeus are two pairs of supra-orbital spines in the protozoeae, a strong hepatic spine, a long dorsomedian spine on the third abdominal segment, ventromedian spines on the anterior abdominal segments and sometimes on the last thoracic segment, a pair of dorsolateral spines on the fifth and sixth abdominal segments and a median spine on the telson. The species recorded are widely distributed in the northern Indian Ocean, particularly in the Bay of Bengal, but only two specimens were taken south of the Equator and few in the more open parts of the ocean.