Larval development of the western school prawn Metapenaeus dalli Racek, 1957 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Penaeidae) reared in the laboratory

ABSTRACT

The six Naupliar, three Protozoea, three Mysis and first post-larval forms of the western school prawn Metapenaeus dalli Racek, 1957 were cultured in the laboratory. These stages were described in detail and compared to those of other metapenaeids. The ontogenetic development occurred in 12 days at 26°C, with both the growth rate and morphological patterns of development in M. dalli broadly following those recorded for other metapenaeids. Differences were found between M. dalli and other metapenaeids at corresponding stages of larval development, with these being the number, location and composition of individual setae and other minor spinal development.

KEYWORDS:

• Morphology
• planktonic
• Penaeidae
• Australia

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Mr Robert Michael, Mr Michael Manca, Dr Lindsey Woolley and the Challenger Institute of Technology for the culture of brood stock, eggs and provision of materials for culture, as well as Dr Andrew Hosie from the Museum of Western Australia for his taxonomic input and Gordon Thompson of Murdoch University for his technical assistance. Gratitude is also expressed to the anonymous reviewers whose suggestions and knowledge greatly enhanced this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Financial support was provided by the Fisheries Research & Development Corporation, Swan River Trust, Challenger Institute of Technology and Murdoch University.