Life history of the snapping shrimp Synalpheus ubatuba: Morphological description of the first larval stage reared in laboratory

Synalpheus ubatuba zoea I was described by assessing laboratory-hatched larvae. It was compared to other Synalpheus descriptions available in the literature. Partial sequences of parental female's 16S rRNA were analysed and it provided additional evidence for species identification. The first S. ubatuba zoea can be identified by a set of morphological characteristics, namely: antennal scale 4-articled; basial endite of the maxillule with 3 stout spines + 1 spine; coxal endite of the maxilla with 3 plumose setae and 1 simple seta; basis of the first maxilliped with 4 spines and 2 simple setae; endopod of the third maxilliped with 5-articled with 0, 0, 0, 2 (1 serrate + 1 simple) setae, 4 simple setae. There was significant larval morphology difference between these characteristics in comparison to other species in the Brevicarpus group (S. brevicarpus and S. minus) which S. ubatuba belongs to. Despite systematic and ecological information provided in the original S. ubatuba description, the present study is the first to focus on the particular features of this species' larval morphology. Evidence of the herein provided larval morphology traits in addition to potential comparison to congeners presenting well-known larval descriptions, supported the identification of newly discovered species.