The larva of spiny lobsters (Palinurus spp.) is the phyllosoma — a transparent, leaf-like planktonic larva with a flattened body, long legs, and no abdomen. It drifts in ocean currents for months before metamorphosing. True lobsters (Homarus) pass through a nauplius stage (inside the egg), then zoea and mysis larval stages. Zoea is characteristic of crabs; nauplius is the earliest crustacean larva (copepods, barnacles).