Morphology of the final stage phyllosoma larva of Scyllarus pygmaeus (Crustacea: Decapoda: Scyllaridae), identified by DNA analysis

The morphology of the final phyllosoma larval stage of the slipper lobster Scyllarus pygmaeus is described and illustrated based on larvae captured from Mediterranean waters and compared with those described in other Scyllaridae. These larvae were always found in deep waters (.200 m). Nucleotide sequence analysis of a region of the nuclear 28S rDNA gene identified these larvae as S. pygmaeus, the morphology of which had been previously un-described. An intensive review revealed a misidentification of Scyllarus arctus larvae in the literature during the last 180 years, since the identification of S. pygmaeus larvae as Chrysoma mediterraneum. Detailed examination indicated that the final-stage larvae examined belonged to a clearly defined phyllosoma larval group within the genus Scyllarus, morphologically very similar to some phyllosoma larvae collected from Japan, Hawaiian Islands, New Zealand or Juan Fernandez Islands. This constitutes the first complete description of a phyllosoma stage of a member of the family Scyllaridae, with the specific identity of the larva being validated with molecular techniques.