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Konishi, Kooichi, Yanagimoto, Takashi, Chow, Seinen (2022): First Description of Phyllosoma Larva in the Genus Projasus (Crustacea: Decapoda: Palinuridae). Species Diversity 27 (2): 243-249, DOI: 10.12782/specdiv.27.243, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.12782/specdiv.27.243

Morphological descriptions of phyllosoma larvae are essential for correct species identification and investigating the spatiotemporal distribution and recruitment process of spiny and slipper lobsters. Species identification of the phyllosoma larvae in the Scyllarinae subfamily is particularly difficult because of the morphological similarities among species and the scarcity of morphological information describing correct species identity. We extracted mid-to final-stage (V to VIII) phyllosoma larvae (n = 12) belonging to the subfamily Scyllarinae from several plankton samples collected in the Pacific and then performed molecular species identification using mitochondrial DNA COI and 16S rDNA sequence analyses. Three larvae collected around the Ryukyu Archipelago were identified as Chelarctus aureus (stage VI to VIII), and four collected around the Ryukyu Archipelago and Ogasawara Islands were identified as C. virgosus (V to VIII). One larva (V) collected in the central South Pacific was determined to be a subspecies of C. crosnieri. DNA barcodes could not be made for the remaining four larvae (V to VIII) collected around the Ryukyu Archipelago (designated by ?Chelarctus sp-1). Based on the morphological characteristics of the C. virgosus phyllosoma described in this study and the adult distributions reported to date, C. cultrifer phyllosomas previously reported in Japanese and Taiwanese waters are likely to be C. virgosus. This paper also presents a set of diagnostic morphological characteristics that can be used to discriminate among these four species of Chelarctus and from other genera in the subfamily Scyllarinae.

The Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica, is one of the most important species of the aquaculture industry of East Asia. Supply of glass eels for aquaculture is completely dependent on wild catch. However, glass-eel catches in Japan declined linearly from over 200 tons in the early 1960s to 20 tons at present. In recent years an unstable situation has occurred with glass-eel catches not meeting the demand of aquaculture farms. In order to address this rapid decline, a challenging research project for artificial production of glass eels was commenced in the late 1960s. Since then, through a continuing process of trial and error, the production of second-generation larvae was finally achieved in 2010. Throughout the research, a new application of several substances has caused breakthroughs in artificial induction of sexual maturation and larvae rearing. This article reports on a study of controlled eel reproduction focusing on the finding of substances that accelerated progress. In addition, guideline research on eel reproduction in the wild was conducted aiming at overcoming current bottlenecks that impeded the establishment of largescale glass-eel production in captivity, by investigating maturing eels and eggs collected in their spawning area in the vicinity of the West Mariana Ridge.

Tuna larvae (at flexion, postflexion, and transformation stages) were collected by dip net and light traps at night in the northwestern Panama Bight during the season of reduced upwelling (June−September) of 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1997. The larvae were identified as yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) by mtDNA analysis. Ichthyoplankton data from bongo and Tucker trawl tows were used to examine the potential prey abundance in relation to the mean size-at-age and growth rates of the yellowfin tuna larvae and their otoliths. The most rapid growth rates occurred during June 1990 when plankton volumes were at their highest levels. The lowest plankton volumes coincided with the lowest growth rates and mean sizes-at-age during the August−September 1991 period. High densities of larval fish were prevalent in the ichthyoplankton tows during the 1991 period; therefore intra- and interspecific competition for limited food resources may have been the cause of slower growth (density-dependent growth) in yellowfin tuna larvae The highest mean seasurface temperature and the lowest mean wind stress occurred during an El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event during the 1997 period. There appeared to be no clear association between these environmental factors and larval growth rates, but the higher temperatures may have caused an increase in the short-term growth of otoliths in relat