THE REPRODUCTIVE ANATOMY OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SLIPPER LOBSTER SCYLLARIDES LATUS (LATREILLE, 1803)

Lobsters belonging to the family Scyllaridae, although known and described for centuries, are proportionally far less studied than their clawed and spiny lobster counterparts. Knowledge of their ecology and behaviour exists for some of the more commercially important species of scyllarids, but information on their reproductive biology is lacking. This is true for the commercially and ecologically important Mediterranean slipper lobster Scyllarides latus (Latreille, 1803). We know that S. latus in the eastern Mediterranean reproduce during the spring (April-June) and ovigerous females are documented shortly thereafter in the field. Despite these observations, we have limited knowledge of the reproductive anatomy of this species. The goal of the present study is to expand that knowledge in S. latus. We describe and document, through systematic dissections and the use of high-resolution images and drawings, the reproductive tracts for freshly caught adult male and female lobsters. Overall, our findings provide the first detailed look at the comparative reproductive anatomy and morphology of S. latus. These descriptions will be useful for future studies of this commercially and ecologically important Atlantic-Mediterranean species.