Morphology of the megalopa of the mud crab, Rhithropanopeus harrisii (Gould, 1841) (Decapoda, Brachyura, Panopeidae), identified by DNA barcode

The morphology of the megalopa stage of the panopeid Rhithropanopeus harrisii is redescribed and illustrated in detail from plankton specimens identified by DNA barcode (16S mtDNA) as previous descriptions do not meet the current standard of brachyuran larval description. Several morphological characters vary widely from those of other panopeid species which could cast some doubt on the species' placement in the same family. Besides, some anomalous megalopae of R. harrisii were found among specimens reared at the laboratory from zoeae collected in the plankton. These anomalous morphological features are discussed in terms of problems associated with laboratory rearing conditions. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg and AWI.
The research was carried out within the framework of the projects MEGALOPADN (CGL2009-11225) and “Transporte y reclutamiento larvario de crustáceos bentónicos litorales: importancia de los agentes forzadores costeros y regimen mareal” (CTM2005-00024/MAR), both co-financed by the “Ministerio de Economía y Competividad (MINECO)” Spanish Plan R + D + I and European Union FEDER funds. Elena Marco-Herrero acknowledges the pre-doctoral FPI Fellowship supported by MINECO (BES-2010-033297).