| Description of life cycle and mating behavior |
Mating behavior: Males wrap around the females with their legs (Ref. 101909, 101937) and use their first pair of pleopods to fertilize the females' eggs (Ref. 8601). Females can fertilize at least one egg clutch with their stored sperm from previous matings (Ref. 101909). Bipartite spawning behavior: (a) primaparous females mate in soft-shelled condition, unable to wave off the males during copulation; and (b) multiparous females mate in hard-shelled condition immediately after hatching of their previous egg clutch, they are aggressively grasped by the males (Ref. 101937). Life cycle: Eggs hatch into larvae and undergo 3 planktonic stages (prezoea, zoea I and zoea II) before they develop into megalopa, the first benthic stage (Ref. 101937).
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