The puerulus of the spotted spiny lobster, Panulirus guttatus (Latreille 1804) (Crustacea: Decapoda)

Abstract

The puerulus of Panulirus guttatus is described from specimens collected at Florida reefs. Preliminary examination by scanning electron microscopy of the spatulate antennal tip of a P. guttatus puerulus revealed no qualitative features different than those previously described for the tapered antennal tip of P. cygnus. The unique combination of morphological characters of the P. guttatus puerulus requires minor adjustment to a recently proposed evolutionary classification of Panulirus based on pueruli.