Decapod larval taxonomic research in the North Eastern Atlanti and Mediterranean: past achievements and future prospects

Summary

During the 18th and early 19th centuries many decapod larvae were briefly described from the N. Atlantic and assigned generic names since they were believed to be adult forms. The earliest accounts are by Leeuwenhoek (1699) and Linnaeus (1767). Metamorphoses in crustaceans was suggested by Slabber (1778) and further proof was provided by Thompson (1820–30) and Du Cane (1839). Knowledge of larval morphology gradually improved through studies chiefly by Muller in the 1860s, Claus and Dohrn in the 1870s and Sars and Cano during the 1880s to 1900s. Significant advances were made in the first half of this century by H. C. Williamson, Robert Gurney, K. Stephensen, H. J. Hansen, Marie Lebour and R. Santucci. Larval stages are now known for approximately 45% of decapod species reported from the area resulting from research combined with improved rearing methods. In the future taxonomic descriptions could be improved by including setal types and their patterns for all developmental stages. Greater use could be made of DNA analyses for investigating taxonomic relationships of larvae. It would seem desirable also to establish an electronic data bank of larval descriptions of species known from the region and to make this available through the Internet.