Abstract
Gravid females of Metapenaeopsis barbata spawned in the laboratory by natural means and the larvae were reared from hatching to postlarval stage at 27·0–29·8˚C and 33·5–34·5 g kg -1 salinity. The larvae metamorphosed into first postlarvae, with a survival rate of up to 98·4%, after about 10 days following hatching and subsistence on only an algal diet of Tetraselmis tetrathele and Chaetoceros gracilis. Six naupliar stages, three protozoeal stages, three mysis stages and the first postlarval stage are described and illustrated. On the basis of morphological characteristics, larval stages of M. barbata can be distinguished from similar stages of closely related species in the family Penaeidae. As inferred from the morphology of the larval feeding apparatus, M. barbata is still a filter-feeder even at the first postlarval stage.
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