First Zoeal Stages of Geograpsus Lividus and Goniopsis Pulchra from Panama Confirm Consistent Larval Characters for the Subfamily Grapsinae (crustacea: Brachyura: Grapsidae)

The first zoeal stages of Geograpsus lividus (H. Milne Edwards, 1837) and Goniopsis pulchra (Lockington, 1876), both obtained from laboratory hatched material in Panama, are described and illustrated. Geograpsus was one of the few genera of Grapsinae for which larval data were unavailable. Zoeal features are compared with those of other genera included in Grapsinae, and several shared morphological characters are established for the subfamily. A combination of six characters, one of them newly recognized, seems to be diagnostic for the Grapsinae and allows recognition of planktonic material. Zoea I larvae of the eastern Pacific Goniopsis pulchra and the western Atlantic G. cruentata (Latreille, 1803) exhibit differences in size, morphometries, and setation of the antennule and telson, rendering support to the taxonomic distinction of this trans-isthmian species pair.