Figure 2 presents the results of cumulative survival in the temperature and salinity combinations for each larval stage. For all zoeal stages the highest survival was obtained at 25 ºC (with very similar results at 20 and 30 ºC), with sea water salinity (35 ‰), but survival decreased towards the lower and higher values of the salinity tested. The lowest salinity (15) induced the lowest survival—nearly all first zoeal larvae died at all the temperatures tested.
The results of cumulative duration of larval stages were not consistent with the results obtained for survival, i.e. the optimal points for survival are not coincident with the highest developmental rate up to a certain degree (Fig. 3). The developmental rate at 30 °C was faster than at any other temperature, and this trend was consistent for all salinity values.