Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Peppermint Shrimp Larvae

A female peppermint shrimp in ST2 has been producing larvae for several months (approximately once a month), but I haven't been successful to capture the larvae on photos. With my new camera and macro filters, this is the first time I could take photos and videos of the tiny larvae. I used all the macro filters I have (+1+2+4+10) in order to get enough magnification. The larvae seem to be in zoea stage, which is abnormal for crustaceans. I suspect that the nauplius might develop inside the eggs while the mother was still brooding.


(mother)

I also captured the larvae movement in a video. They used their thoraxial appendages to swim, which is an apparent characteristic of zoea larvae.


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