The first record of larvae of the giant crab Pseudocarcinus gigas in the plankton

This note reports the first collection of Pseudocarcinus gigas zoeas from the plankton. Plankton samples were collected in November 1992 from oceanic waters on the edge of the continental slope near Pedra Branca, southern Tasmania (longitude 14r09' 32 "E to 147°28' 30"E, latitude 44°11 '23"S to 44°12'30"S). Although samples were collected during the period when P. gigas larvae would be expected to be abundant, only three stage-2 P. gigas zoeas were captured from a total of342 Brachyuran larvae. All three zoe as were captured in the upper 100 m of water and were from different samples taken during both day and night.