Morphological description of Nauplius stages I and III, and Protozoea from stages I to III of Metapenaeus stebbingi Nobili, 1904 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Penaeidae)

Metapenaeus stebbingi Nobili, 1904 is an Indo-Pacific shrimp species. Larvae of M. stebbingi were obtained from eggs that hatched four days after spawning from gravid females captured from incidental fishery. The naupliar and protozoeal phases were reared for six days under controlled laboratory conditions at a room temperature of 30 °C, with seawater maintained at 29 °C, a salinity of 37‰, and pH 7.9. Nauplius stages I and III and Protozoea stages I, II, and III were maintained in filtered seawater. The larvae were described based on their principal diagnostic characteristics, and illustrations were prepared from the original material. This study constitutes the first report of the naupliar and protozoeal phases of M. stebbingi from Pakistan.