SHORT COMMUNICATION Phyllosoma larvae (Decapoda: Palinuridea) of the Cape Verde Islands

There is a commercial fishery for Palinuridea in the Cape Verde Islands. The species known from the archipelago are Palinurus charlestoni Forest & Postel, 1964, Panulirus echinatus S. I. Smith, 1869, Panulirus regius De Brito Capello, 1865, Scyllarides latus (Latreille, 1803) and Scyllarus pygmaeus (Bate, 1888). Palinurus mauritanicus Gruvel 1911, Scyllarides herklotsii (Herklots, 1851), Scyllarus caparti (Holthuis, 1952), Scyllarus paradoxus, Miers, 1881 and Scyllarus posteli Forest 1963 are recorded from nearby West African waters. The zoea phase of development in Palinuridea is the phyllosoma, which is readily recognizable because of dorso-ventral compression and the presence of a large cephalic shield. Gurney referred three types of phyllosoma to Panulirus, one to Scyllarides and at least one to Scyllarus from samples in the vicinity of the Cape Verde Islands (Gurney, 1936). He compiled a key for the identification of these and other phyllosomas from the ‘Discovery’ samples. Lebour recorded phyllosomas of Panulirus sp. and Scyllarus sp. from the region of the Cape Verde Islands, but without further description or illustration (Lebour, 1959). Ribeiro described phyllosomas that he referred to Scyllarus pygmaeus from samples taken in the archipelago (Ribeiro, 1973). Robertson (Robertson, 1969) showed that the Scyllarides of Gurney (Gurney, 1936) and Stephensen (Stephensen, 1923) were actually Scyllarus, whereas specimens previously referred to as Thenus sp. were Scyllarides. Lewis (Lewis, 1951) and Berry (Berry, 1974) demonstrated intraspecific variability during development in the numbers of coxal spines, a character used in Gurney’s key. Baisre has summarized generic characteristics of phyllosomas (Baisre, 1994). Plankton samples were taken in the Cape Verde archipelago from 23 to 28 September 1998 as part of the Macaronesia 2000 project of the Museo de Ciencias Naturales, Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Phyllosoma larvae have previously been identified as Scyllaridae or Palinuridae (Lindley et al., 2002). These specimens and specimens attributed to Scyllarus arctus from samples taken around the Canary Islands have been re-examined and their characteristics noted to provide further information on the phyllosomas of the Cape Verde Islands. Early stages of Panulirus sp., which have not previously been described for the species occurring in the Cape Verde Islands, are illustrated here (Figures 1 and 2). The identity of these specimens and those of Gurney (Gurney, 1936) is discussed. Samples were taken with a triple WP-2 net with 200 mm mesh. Those containing phyllosomas are listed in Table I. Specimens were re-examined without dissection under stereomicroscopes and micrographs were taken with a digital camera. Drawings were made using the digital images and direct reference to the specimens, which are preserved intact in the collection of the Museo de Ciencias Naturales, Tenerife, for future reference. JOURNAL OF PLANKTON RESEARCH j VOLUME 26 j NUMBER 2 j PAGES 235–240 j 2004