Description of the first juvenile stage of the fiddler crab Minuca mordax (Smith, 1870) (Crustacea, Decapoda, Ocypodidae)

• Autor(a) principal: Martins, Salise Brandt
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Outros Autores: Marochi, Murilo Zanetti, Masunari, Setuko
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://www.revistas.usp.br/paz/article/view/122253
• topic: Juvenile morphology; Development; Mangrove; Guaratuba Bay.

The first stage of the fiddler crab Minuca mordax is described here. Zoea larvae obtained from four ovigerous female were reared in the laboratory until the development of the first crab stage. The development from zoea I to the first juvenile instar lasted 35 days after hatching. The first crab stage of Minuca mordax can be morphologically distinguished from those of Minuca burgersi and Leptuca cumulanta by a 2‑segmented antennule endopod (3‑segmented in M. burgersi, unsegmented in L. cumulanta), an unsegmented maxillule endopod (2‑segmented in M. burgersi and L. cumulanta), and a 4‑segmented first and second maxilliped endopod (respectively unsegmented and 5‑segmented in M. burgersi and L. cumulanta). The three species have the following characters in common: segmented peduncle of antennule 2; endopod of antennule unsegmented; presence of aesthetascs on the antennule; peduncle of antenna 3‑segmented; flagellum of antenna 6‑segmented; mandible 3‑segmented; maxilla with coxal and basal endite bilobed; first, second and third maxillae with exopod 2‑segmented and abdomen with six somites that are wider than long.