Early larval development in the laboratory of Alpheus estuariensis (Crustacea: Caridea) from the Amazon Region

here we describe and illustrate in detail four early zoeal stages of alpheus estuariensis christoffersen, 1984 from larvae reared in the laboratory. two ovigerous females were collected in the tidal creek of the bragan？a estuary, state of pará, northeastern brazil. after hatching, the larvae were placed in small containers (with 10 larvae in each). females were deposited in the museu paraense emilio goeldi (mpeg 0803) and the larvae of each larval stage in the zoological museum of s？o paulo university (musp18452). ten larvae and exuviae were dissected with fine needles under an ocular microscope. morphological comparisons with previous studies on larval development of the alpheus species are briefly discussed.