Zoeal Stages, Reared in the Laboratory, and Megalopa of the Soldier Crab Mictyris Longicarpus Latreille, 1806 (Decapoda, Mictyridae)

The five zoeal stages of the soldier crab Mictyris longicarpus cultured in the laboratory and the megalopa collected from a sandy beach soon after settlement are described and illustrated. The morphology of the first zoea is compared with the previous description of the first zoeal stage of M. longicarpus (the only other mictyrid zoeal description yet published). Factors contributing to the failure of the fifth stage zoeae to metamorphose in the laboratory are discussed.