Phyllosomas of scyllarid lobster from the Arabian sea

Abstract

In an earlier paper (1957) the authors described a few phyllosomas of scyllarids collected from the Gulf of Mannar near Mandapam and so far this seems to be the only account of the larvae of these lobsters from Indian waters. The difficulty in establishing the specific identity of the various types of phyllosomas has been experienced by all workers. Only in a few instances, such as Scyllarus arctus (ref. Stephensen, 1928 and other earlier workers referred to by him), the monospecific Thenus orientalis (ref. Prasad and Tampi, 1957), and lbacus ciliatus (ref. Harda, 1958)has it been possible to obtain the larvae hatched from the eggs and thus establish identity beyond doubt while at present identification of many other scyllarid larvae will necessarily have to be based on circumstantial evidence. The problem is particularly difficult in the case of Indian scyllarids. Meanwhile it has been possible to obtain some scyllarid phyllosomas and nisto stages from the region around the Laccadive islands (Fig. 1) during the cruises of the research vessel KALAVA in 1958 and 1959. A brief account of these phyllosomas is given in the present paper while the natant stages will be described at a later date along with similar material collected along our coast