LARVAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE CUBAN STONE CRAB, 



MliMPPE SODIFROSS (BRACHYURA, XANTHIDAE), 



UNDER LABORATORY CONDITIONS WITH NOTES ON 



THE STATUS OF THE FAMILY MENIPPIDAE' 



Liberia E. StoTTu^ 



ABSTRACT 



The complete larval development of the Cuban stone crab, Menippe nndifrons. is described and 

 illustrated. Larvae reared in the laboratory passed through a prezoeal. five and uncommonly six zoeal, 

 and one megalopal stage. At 30° C the megalopal stage was attained in 16- 17 days, at 20° C, 28-37 days. 

 The six zoeal stages of M. nadifrons are compared with those of its sympatric congener M. mcrccnaria 

 and with the first zoeal stage of the Indo- Pacific species M. rumphii. Larvae of the genus Mivuppc may 

 be distinguished from other xanthid larvae by a combination of morphological features, including 

 antennal development lexopodite at least three-fourths the length of protopoditei, lack of setae on the 

 basal segment of the second maxillipedal endopodite. and number of larval stages tMenippc. 5 or 6; 

 most other xanthids. 4i. Using Lebour's criteria (emphasizing antennal development and number of 

 zoeal stages) to determine the primitive or advanced status of decapod larvae, the genus Menippe is 

 more closely related to the phylogentically primitive family Cancridae than to most of theXanthidae. 

 The possible reestablish ment of the family Menippidae is discussed in view of new larval evidence. 



The Cuban .stone crab, Memppc nm/i fiDus 

 Stimpson 1859, is a medium-sized xanthid crab 

 closely allied to the common commercial stone 

 crab, Menippe mervcruiria (Say 1818). The type- 

 locality of A/, nodifrons is the Indian River region 

 located on the central eastern Florida coast be- 

 tween !at. 27" and 29' N. The western Atlantic 

 range of the species extends from the Indian River, 

 Fla., to the state of Santa Catherina, Brazil. Al- 

 though Rathbun ( 1930) listed Cameron, La,, as a 

 collection site, subsequent sampling in this and 

 other areas of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico had 

 failed to produce any more specimens (FelderM. In 

 the eastern Atlantic, specimens attributed to M. 

 nodifrons have been recorded from Senegal to An- 

 gola, West Africa (Monod 1956). 



Studies on M. nodifrons have been primarily 

 taxonomic. Since Rathbun's monograph on the 

 American cancroid crabs ( 1930), the major studies 

 dealing with this species include faunal investiga- 



'Scientific Contribution No, 118, from the Smithsonian 

 Institution-Harbor Branch Foundation, Inc., Scientific Consor- 

 tium, Link Port, Fort Pierce, FL 33450. This paper is Article XII. 

 Studies on Decapod Crustacea from the Indian River region of 

 Flonda. 



^Smithsonian Institution, Fort Pierce Bureau, Fort Pierce, FL 

 33450. 



'Felder, D. 1973. An annotated key to the crabs and 

 lobsters (Decapoda, Reptantiai from coastal waters of the north- 

 western Gulf of Mexico LSU-SG-73-02, 103 p. Louisiana State 

 University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803. 



ManiLscnpl accepted , January 1979 

 FISHERY BULLETIN; VOL. 77, NO 2, 1979 



tionsofWest Africa I Capart 1951; Monod 1956), a 

 survey of stomatopod and decapod crustaceans of 

 Portuguese Guiana I Vilela 1951 ), and an ecologi- 

 cal investigation of the species on Floridan sabel- 

 lariid worm reefs (Gore et al. 1978). 



Although there are five (possibly seven) species 

 in the genus Menippe, four occurring in the New 

 World, M. mei-cenaria is the only species whose 

 complete larval development has been described 

 ( Hy man 1 925; Porter 1 960 ), The first zoeal stage of 

 a species identified asM. rumphii (Fabricius 1798) 

 was described by Prasad and Tampi ( 1 957 ) from an 

 ovigerous female collected from the Indian Ocean 

 (Mandapam Camp, South India). However, the 

 taxonomy of M . rumphii is confused and the 

 species is distinguished from M. nodifrons primar- 

 ily by the presence of stridulating ridges on the 

 palm (Stimpson 1871; Milne-Edwards 1873). 

 Whether Rathbun ( 1930) and Monod (1956) were 

 correct in synonymizing M. rumphii with M. 

 nodifrons. remains to be seen; the former is also 

 considered to be a Caribbean-Western Atlantic 

 species (Dana 1852; Milne-Edwards 1873), U M. 

 rumphii is indeed synonymous with M . nodifrons 

 and not a separate species, Prasad and Tampi's 

 Mandapam Camp record would be a remarkable 

 range extension for A/, nodifrons. Further investi- 

 gation on larval morphology and development 

 may answer this question. 



359 



