The complete larvaldevelopment, under laboratoryconditions, of
the pontoniine shrimp Periclimenes brevicarpalis(Shenkel,1902) is
described.Nine zoeal stages and one decapodid stage were identifiedbeforethe
moult to the firstjuvenilestage, and detailed descriptionsare
given fbr each stage. As a result of detailedmorphologicai
comparisons with congeners, the larvae of Periclimenesspecies are
separated intotwo groups according to morphological criteria