Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 81 (2): 155-170, 2008
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Larval development of the rock shrimp Rhynchocinetes typus Milne Edwards,
1937 (Decapoda, Caridea) reared in the laboratory
The first description of the larval stages of a representative of the family
Rhynchocinetidae from the southeastern Pacific coast of South America is presented. Larvae of the rock shrimp
Rhynchocinetes typus, from rocky subtidal environment of the Chile-Peru coast were reared in the laboratory at 22 ºC,
salinity 32 and feeding with Artemia franciscana. Seven zoeal stages, which occur through 10 successive moults,
aredescribed and illustrated in detail. Morphological comparison made between R. typus and other congeneric and related
species belonging to Rhynchocinetid showed the main characteristic for the diagnosis of zoeal stages are: (a) the pereiopods appear
in the third stage, (b) the exopod of the antennae have six segments, and (c) no pleopods were found on the seven stages. The main
difference with related species was the presence of three lacinia in the right mandible at stage VII.
Key words:
larval development,
shrimp, Rhynchocinetes, Caridea, Chile
