Early Life Histories of Slipper Lobsters

Abstract

The small size of adult scyllarids means that few are commercially important, which, in turn, means that there has been relatively little work directed toward their early life histories. Some slipper lobsters hatch as a naupliosoma larva and all (together with the spiny and the coral lobsters) have a unique, long-lived, planktonic larva — the phyllosoma — that metamorphoses into a nektonic/benthic postlarva known in the Scyllaridae as a “nisto.” Phyllosomas of genera with large eggs (e.g., Ibacus and Thenus species) have more developed stage I phyllosomas than those with small eggs (e.g., Scyllarides and Scyllarus species), but the evolutionary trade-off for producing larger eggs is lower fecundity. Themidand late-stage phyllosomas of scyllaridswith long larval durations (several months, e.g., Arctides, Scyllarides, and Parribacus species) are rarely found close to the coast. However, short larval durations have evolved among some scyllarids, such that with the development of particular behavioral patterns, larvae are not transported far from the coast. Between these two extremes there appear to be a number of intermediate larval recruitment strategies. Scyllarid phyllosomas appear to feed mainly on soft, fleshy foods; in turn, they are eaten by a diverse range of mainly pelagic fishes. Swimming abilities appear to vary widely among genera, with Thenus species being particularly weak swimmers. Many genera in their late stages of development can be found associated with gelatinous zooplankton, particularly medusae.