Understanding the occurrence and developmental stages of larvae is essential for ecological studies and the effective resource management of stomatopods. However, reliable species identification of stomatopod larvae remains limited, even for species of commercial interest. During a scuba diving survey off Okinawa Island, a larva exhibiting a distinctive carapace shape was collected. DNA barcoding identified the specimen as Lysiosquilloides taiwanicus Ahyong & Lin, 2022, representing the first confirmed record of the pelagic larval stage of this species. This Japanese larval specimen is also morphologically identical to a larva of this species recently collected off southeastern Taiwan. The morphological characteristics of the larva are described and illustrated herein. One of the most remarkable characteristics of this larva is the shape of the carapace: almost triangular in dorsal view; armed with a long rostrum, a long median spine, and a pair of posterolateral spines; posterolateral spines extending laterally. The uropodal protopod is forked, with the inner fork longer than the outer, as observed in other lysiosquillid larvae. Both the Japanese and Taiwanese specimens represent the final pelagic larval stage, there is a high possibility that adult L. taiwanicus also occurs in Japanese waters. Morphological comparisons with previously described larvae tentatively assigned to the family Lysiosquillidae demonstrate that these specimens represent the first documented larval form of L. taiwanicus worldwide.
Carapace morphology, Lysioerichthus, Pelagic larva, Taxonomy, Uropod
