Biological investigations of the deep sea. No. 48. Phyllosoma larvae of a scyllarid lobster,Arctides guineensis,from the western Atlantic

A series of scyllarid phyllosoma larvae obtained from plankton in the western Atlantic is described and illustrated. The earliest stages are not represented; the larvae reported range in length from 6 to 59 mm. They are characterized by a narrow, elongated cephalic shield, a broad thorax, a great proportional length of the eyestalk, and by a short dactyl of the fourth pereiopod. There is no direct evidence to establish the parentage of these phyllosomas. By their geographic distribution and the elimination of other species to which larvae have been previously assigned, they are provisionally referred to the scyllarid lobster Arctides guineensis (Spengler).