Despite the fact that at least 18 species of palinurid lobsters and nearly 20 scyllarids are definitely known from the Indian Ocean region, the complete life histories of only very few of them are understood. Practical difficulties in this line of investigation are many, as in the case of most marine fishes and other Crustacea. Nevertheless, some earlier attempts have been made to correlate the various larval stages with adults of the species. Several hitherto undescribed phyllosomas have recently become available, based on which this account tries to give a brief review of the variety of the phyllosomas and their general distribution in the Indian Ocean.