The larvae of the hymenosomatid crab Elamenopsis kempi (Chopra and Das) were reared, from a laboratory hatching, to the first crab stage. There were 3 zoeal stages. The last zoeal stage moulted directly into the first crab stage without passing through a megalopa stage. The larval development took about 12 - 13 days to be completed at room temperature of 27-30ºC and salinity of 1.5‰.