Morphology of the first zoeal stage of the shrimp Cuapetes americanus (Kingsley, 1878) (Caridea: Palaemonidae) obtained in the laboratory

• Grant number: 23/03694-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2023
• End date: December 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Morphology of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Rogério Caetano da Costa
• Grantee: Matheus Sene Oliveira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências (FC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 18/13685-5 - Integrative analysis of the Brazilian fauna of decapod crustaceans: taxonomy, phylogenetic systematics, spermiotaxonomy, morphology of post-embryonic development, ecology and conservation, AP.BTA.TEM

Abstract

Cuapetes Clark, 1919, composes one of the many genera of marine shrimp belonging to the family Palaemonidae Rafinesque, 1815, being the largest family within the infraorder Caridea Dana, 1852, with 1200 species distributed in 160 genera. The genus Cuapetes currently includes 31 described species, composed of small translucent shrimps. Cuapetes Americanus has its distribution reported for the Western Atlantic, occurring from the USA (from Beaufort, North Carolina to Texas) to Brazil (from Pará to São Paulo), however, despite its vast occurrence, little is known about the aspects studies of the larval forms of C. americanus, with studies focused on taxonomy, distribution, reproductive characteristics and fecundity. Thus, the description of the first larval stage of C. americanus will be of great importance to complement the information about the biology of the species, bearing in mind that information on larval morphology combined with molecular tools can enable a series of other studies, focusing on in larval ecology.