Captive breeding and larval development of the scyllarine lobster Petrarctus rugosus

The scyllarinid lobster, Petrarctus rugosus was reared to the postlarval nisto in 51 days at 24.9-26.5°C between November 2003 and April 2004 in Chennai, India. The lobster had eight phyllosomal instars. The eighth instars died while moulting to nisto. Instar VI was attained in 34 days with an average intermoult period of 5.4 days, whereas the last two moults took 17 days to complete. The captive breeders mated and bred several times between November and April with peak spawning in February. Repetitive breeding was observed with the brooding period varying from 11 to 17 days. Mean fecundity was 17 004 eggs ± 11 486 (SD). Hatching percentage was between 0.00 and 87.44.