Note on the phyllosoma of Puerulus sewelli Ramadan

Abstract

Prasad and Tampi (1959) in their paper ' On a collection of palinurid phyllosomas from the Laccadive seas' described a type of phyllosoma larvae which resembles the phyllosomas of palinurids except in that the larvae have bifid second antennae. This type was provisionally designated as the larva of Panulinis sp. VI. Since the publication of the paper the authors had occasion to examine several specimens of Puerulus sewelli Ramadan collected from the west coast of India at depths varying from 200 to 350 m. The collections included a good many berried individuals with the eggs in different stages of development. As there is no information in literature on the larvae of Puerulus an attempt was made to dissect out the embryos to study them. Some of the eggs were in an advanced stage of development and the embryos taken out from them showed sufficient diagnostic characters.