Phyllosoma and nisto stage of the Morton Bay bug, Thenus orientalis (Lund) (Crustacea : Decapoda : Scyllaridae), from shelf waters of the Great Barrier Reef

Abstract

Samples of macrozooplankton collected from the shelf area of the Great Banier Reef (between 18º35'S. and 19º10'S. and 146º30'E. and 147º00'E.) contained phyliosomes of several different species of scyllarid lobster, including those of T. orientalis. Four larval stages of T. orientalis are described from the plankton and are related to laboratory-reared specimens of the first stage and of the postlarval nisto. An attempt is made to clarify discrepancies in the existing literature relating to descriptions of larval T. orientalis.