Larval period and molting in the Japanese spiny lobster Panulirus japonicus under laboratory conditions

Abstract

SUMMARY: A total of 325 pueruli of the spiny lobster Panulirus japonicus was successfully reared in the laboratory at Minami‐Iku Station of Japan Sea‐Farming Association, Shizuoka, Japan, during 1989–1997. Of these pueruli, 136 individuals metamorphosed into the first juvenile stage. The duration of the phyllosoma stage ranged from 231 to 417 days (mean 319.4 days), and it has a tendency to extend as the increase of water volume in the rearing tanks. The number of molting in the phyllosoma stage was 20–31. The body length of the last‐stage phyllosoma ranged from 27.9 to 34.2 mm and the duration of the last stage was 11–26 days. The carapace length of the puerulus stage was 6.0–8.0 mm and the duration was 9–26 days. The present data and those of previous studies suggest that the body size and the duration of phyllosoma stage in captivity are affected by environment as in the field. The duration of the puerulus stage is considered to be controlled basically by water temperature and nutritional conditions in the phyllosoma.

The early phyllosoma stages of spiny lobster Panulirus echinatus Smith, 1869 (Decapoda: Palinuridae) reared in the laboratory

“…Larvae of P. japonicus were cultured being fed with adult Artemia and pieces of mussel gonads (Sekine et al, 2000). Kittaka and Kimura (1989) also obtained success in the culture of phyllosomas of this species feeding pieces of gonads of Mytilus edulis.…”

“…The Intermoult period appears to be distinct for palinurid species and may vary in accordance to the rearing conditions in which the larvae are submitted, such as, adaptation, type of food administered, density, water quality, and others (Kittaka and Ikegani, 1988;Kittaka and Ikegami, 1988;Kittaka and Kimura, 1989;Radhakrishnan and Vijayakumaran, 1995;Kittaka et al, 1998;Matsuda and Yamakawa, 2000;Sekine et al, 2000). Kittaka and Kimura (1989) rearing phyllosomas of P. japonicus, obtained an intermoult period of 6 to 7 days for instar I.…”

New tank design for larval culture of Japanese spiny lobster,Panulirus japonicus

“…In addition to tank design, the size and nutritional profile of foods are important for the high survival and rapid growth of J. edwardsii phyllosoma to Stage VIII (Illingworth et al 1997). The phyllosoma of this study were fed with larger Artemia (7-9 mm) than in previous studies in P.japonicus (e.g., 4 mm body length, Matsuda & Yamakawa 1997; 3 mm body length, Sekine et al 2000), and the larvae appeared to take the large Artemia more easily than smaller ones. This suggests that feeding with large Artemia, as well as the new tank design, resulted in the high survival to puerulus and juvenile.…”

“…Kittaka & Kimura (1989) produced two juveniles of P. japonicus from newly hatched phyllosoma in July 1988. Thereafter, culturing conditions, such as temperature, quality of the sea water, and design of the tank, have been investigated (e.g., Matsuda & Yamakawa 1997;Shioda et al 1997;Sekine et al 2000). Survival from hatching to the juvenile stage, however, is still low (0-10%, our unpubl.…”

“…The 390 middle-stage phyllosoma, which had hatched on 15 July 2002, were previously cultured in six 40-litre hemispheric tanks according to Sekine et al (2000). The phyllosoma were 123 days old at the start of experiment, with a body length of 11.5 ± 0.9 mm (mean ± SD, n = 60) and had a survival from hatch of over 80%.…”