FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL 77. NO 1 



Table 2. — Number of setae on margins of pleopods of the post- 

 larva ofSqutlla empusa. 



Figure 19- — SquiUa empusa. stage VIII. ventral view. 



merit of uropod with dorsal spine on distal margin. 

 Basal prolongation of uropod with two spines, me- 

 sial longer. Single rounded lobe between spines of 

 prolongation. Mesial margin of basal prolongation 

 sinuate. 



Telson (Figure 24) as wide as long, median 

 carina with sharp posterior spine, prelateral lobes 

 absent, postanal ventral carina absent, subme- 

 dian teeth with moveable apices, denticle formula: 

 submedian, 8 to 10; intermediate, 7 to 10; lateral, 

 1. 



Postlarva white with brown chromatophores on 

 eyes and all appendages except mouthparts. 

 Carapace with few chromatophores. Exposed 

 thoracomeres with chromatophores along pos- 

 terior margin. Pleomeres with chromatophores 

 along intermediate and lateral carinae and pos- 

 terior margin. Telson with chromatophores along 

 curved dorsal striations and posterior spine. 



DISCUSSION 



Brooks 11878) and Faxon ( 1882) have produced 

 the only prior publications on the larvae ofSquilla 

 empusa. Brooks partially described the develop- 

 ment by reconstruction, and Faxon held an un- 

 identified last stage through metamorphosis to at- 

 tempt to identify it with the adult. .'Although 

 Brooks* illustrations and descriptions indicate 

 that he probably was working with S. empu.'^a, 

 Faxon's do not. The carapace of Faxon's last stage 

 larvae appears to be too broad, the posterolateral 

 spines are too short, and a spinule is present on the 

 posterior margin of the carapace midway between 

 the dorsal and posterolateral spines. Further- 

 more, in Faxon's illustrations both the last larval 

 stage and postlarva have broad abdomens with the 

 first pleomere being as wide as the sixth, but in .S. 

 empusa, the abdomen is tapered with smaller an- 

 terior pleomeres grading into larger posterior 

 ones. 



Faxon collected his larva from Newport, R.I., 

 where only four species of stomatopods are known 

 to reside: S. empusa. Nannnsquilla grayi. Hetern- 

 squilla arinata. and Platysquilla cnodis (Manning 

 1974). Because the telson of Faxon's postlarva 

 bears four intermediate denticles, it can be attrib- 

 uted to the Squillidae, and S. empusa is the only 

 squillid known to inhabit the area; the other three 

 species belong to the Lysiosquillidae. Few larval 

 descriptions have been made on southern species 

 of squillid larvae, and of these none possesses the 

 pair of spines on the posterior margin of the 

 carapace, seen in Faxon's larva, nor does S. em- 

 pusa. If Alikunhi (1952, 1967) was con-ect in his 

 identification of the late larva and postlarva, these 

 spines occur on Cloridopsis scorpio from the In- 

 dian Ocean. The spines may be only a specific 

 character or they may be diagnostic for the genus 

 Cloriflopsis. The only member of that genus in- 

 habiting the waters of the Western Atlantic is C 

 (luhia which ranges from South Carolina to Brazil. 

 Perhaps Faxon collected a larva of C. duhia which 

 drifted north with the Gulf Stream. Until more 

 larval descriptions are worked out for western At- 



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