The embryonic development of four species of the family Palaemonidae was studied under laboratory conditions. Adults of Macrobrachium olfersi (Wiegman, 1836), Macrobrachium potiuna (Müller, 1880), Palaemon pandaliformis (Stimpson, 1871) and Palaemonetes argentinus (Nobili, 1901) were collected in Santa Catarina Island, Santa Catarina, Brazil and maintained at 26ºC. The following embryonic characters were analyzed: egg shape, yolk organization and cleavage plane, naupliar and post-naupliar appendages, stomodeum, optical lobes, eyes, telson, embryo curvature and the space occupied by the embryo in the egg. Different rates of development were observed for the four species, with M. potiuna showing the longest time of embryogenesis. The species studied followed the pattern of embryogenesis of centrolecithal eggs, enabling the identification of similar features of the development, and the establishment of eight common embryonic stages.
Centrolecithal eggs; developmental stages; embryonic morphological features; Macrobrachium
