Morphology of stomatopod larvae from National Parks: Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano and Arrecife Puerto Morelos, Mexico

Abstract

Th e present study provides information on the morphology of stomatopod larvae found in two diff erent reef systems which are also considered national parks: the Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano (SAVNP) and Arrecife Puerto Morelos (APMNP). Zooplankton samples were collected at 26 stations of the SAVNP and four stations of the APMNP. Stomatopod larvae were identifi ed and classifi ed by their larval stage. We found representatives of three stomatopod superfamilies: the superfamily Gonodactyloidea Giesbrecht, 1910 was represented by Neogonodactylus oerstedii (Hansen, 1895), Neogonodactylus wennerae Manning and Heard, 1997, and Pseudosquillidae genus and species indeterminate; the superfamily Lysiosquilloidea Giesbrecht, 1910 was represented by Lysiosquilloidea genus and species indeterminate, Lysiosquilla sp., Lysiosquilla scabricauda (Lamarck, 1818) and Nannosquilla adkisoni Camp and Manning, 1982; the superfamily Squilloidea was represented by larvae of Alima neptuni (Linnaeus, 1768), Squilla spp., and Squilla empusa Say, 1818. We were able to identify and describe four stages of larval development for orcid.org/0000-0003-0531-5557Cházaro-Olvera et al. 2Larval morphology of mantis shrimps Nauplius, 26: e2018005 representatives of these superfamilies. This is the first study describing several stages of larval development of different species of the stomatopods from the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea.

Haline Tolerance of Stomatopod (Crustacea) Larvae and Pelagic Dispersal of Two Common Species in the Western Atlantic

“…In turn, L. scabricauda ranges from North Carolina to southern Brazil, including Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean (Diaz & Manning, 1998;GBIF.org, 2023b;Manning, 1969); males of this species can reach 275 mm in length and females, 261 mm (Manning, 1969). In the Gulf of Mexico in particular, studies concerning the stomatopod fauna mostly refer to its distribution (Reaka et al, 2009;Wortham, 2009), reproduction (Wortham-Neal, 2002), and morphological descriptions of larvae (Cházaro-Olvera et al, 2018). In this Gulf, a total of 45 stomatopod species have been registered: 10 smashers and 35 spearers, but only a few of them have been recorded in nearshore areas of Mexican waters (GBIF.org, 2023a(GBIF.org, , 2023bReaka et al, 2009;Ruiz et al, 2013).…”