FIVE FORMS OF PALINURID PHYLLOSOMA LARVAE FROM JAPAN

Abstract

Japanese spiny lobster has been highly appraised in the coastal fishing industry along the Pacific coasts of Central and Southwestern Japan. There are not a few studies on this species, but our knowledge of the ecological aspects of its phyllosoma stages such as life history, distribution and so on has been severely restricted. Two reasons are thought for this. In the first place, the phyllosoma larvae of Japanese spiny lobster are hardly collected from Japanese waters, especially from coastal waters of Central Japan. Secondly, it is difficult to know which is the larval from of Japanese spiny lobster since there are five forms of phyllosoma larvae of Panulirus in the seas of Southwestern Japan where the larvae are abundantly collected. In the present paper, the descriptions of five forms of the palinurid phyllosoma larvae collected from the neighbouring waters of Japan are given as a step for the ecological study on the larval stage of Japanese spiny lobster in the future.