Nine zoeal stages of Lysmata vittata (Stimpson, 1860) are described from laboratory-reared material. The ornamentation of the carapace and the fifth abdominal somite readily distinguish the first zoeas of L. vittata from the two previously known first larvae of Lysmata (L. anchisteus and L. seticaudata). Larval characters of the genus Lysmata are summarized. The setation of 1,2,3(6) on the basis of the second maxilliped indicates that Lysmata is closely related to Exhippolysmata.