The closed life-cycle culture of tropical spiny lobster, Panulirus ornatus conducted at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic studies provides a unique opportunity to study specific developmental stages across embryogenesis. This production provides access to embryos at defined time points, however physical staging is a challenge due to their small size and the environmental factors impacting their development. A transcriptome detailing 11 distinct stages across the 30-day embryonal development period of P. ornatus was established as the most in-depth transcriptomic library of embryogenesis in decapods. Key genes were characterised across the 11 stages of embryogenesis. The gastrula-specific genes, nanos and brachyury, presented an expression profile indicating gastrulation occurs in early embryogenesis. The expression of neuropeptides was reported across P. ornatus embryos, suggesting they are primarily active during the later stages of embryogenesis as the nervous system develops and the animal prepares to hatch. In addition to the molecular tools used to characterise embryo development, developmental characteristics, such as eye spot development, provide a measurable visual indicator. Hatch prediction models based on visual characteristics were shown to be an accurate prediction method for timing hatch for P. ornatus embryos kept at 26°C.