Studies on Decapod Crustacea from the Indian River Region of Florida. XXIII. The Laboratory Cultured Zoeal Stages of the Coral Gall-Forming Crab Troglocarcinus corallicola Verrill, 1908 (Brachyura: Hapalocarcinidae) and Its Familial Position

Monophyly and phylogenetic origin of the gall crab family Cryptochiridae (Decapoda : Brachyura)

“…Fize and Serène (1957) deviated from this placement and argued that Cryptochiridae has closest affinities with Pinnotheridae, based on the morphology of the female abdomen. When considering the larval morphology (based on Troglocarcinus corallicola Verrill 1908), cryptochirids also appear closely related to Pinnotheridae, with close affinities to Hymenosomatidae and Leucosiidae (Scotto and Gore 1981). Utinomi (1944) had previously considered the zoea of Hapalocarcinus and Cryptochirus to belong to the so-called Grapsizoea (including genera of the Cancridae, Grapsidae, Xanthidae and some Oxyrhyncha) and dismissed suggestions of a close affinity of Cryptochiridae with Pinnotheridae.…”

Early Larval Stages of the Indo-Pacific Coral Gall-Forming Crab Hapalocarcinus Marsupialis Stimpson, 1859 (Brachyura, Hapalocarcinidae) Cultured in the Laboratory

“…Finally, we stated in an earlier paper (Scotto & Gore, 1981) that the phylogenetic relationships of the Hapalocarcinidae, based on similarities in larval features, lay closest to the Pinnotheridae, Leucosiidae, and Hymenosomatidae, basing our conclusions on data available to us at that time . We have recently obtained a complete copy of Fize' s (1956) paper, which clear ly shows that she arrived earlier at these same conclusions.…”

“…Fize (1956) also noted an extended developmen tal time in stage I, not molting after 20 days, a consequence she attributed to incorrect nourishment of the larvae. In the Atlantic Troglocarcinus corallicola, the only other hapalocarcinid in which larvae are well known , survivorship at 25°C was enhanced and the duration of stage I averaged only 12.8 days (Scotto & Gore, 1981). Thus , the Paci fic H .…”

“…Additional features in H. marsupialis which will require examination of zoeal stages later than Z-II before they can be properly evaluated include whether: 1) 5 or 6 abdominal somites occur, 2) the development of the antennule remains retarded, 3) the reduction of maxilliped 2 endopod from 3 to 2 articles takes place , 4) the number of natatory exopodal setae on the maxillipeds increases in a regular manner (see Scotto & Gore, 1981, for complete discussion).…”

“…Potts (1915), Edmondson (1933), Fize (1956) and AI-Kholy (1963) all provided brief descriptions or illustrations of first zoeal stages, most of which are inadequate to allow meaningful comparisons with larvae from other hapalocarcinids. Coupled with the inadequacies just noted is the fact that hapalocarcinid larvae are among the more difficult of brachyurans to culture in the laboratory, apparent ly requiring extended lengths of time in several zoeal stages in order to com plete their development (see Fize, 1956;Scotto & Gore, 1981). In order to fur ther clarify the systematic position of the adult members, an attempt was made to rear larvae of H. marsupialis through as many developmental stages as possi ble.…”