New leptestherid clam shrimps (Pancrustacea: Branchiopoda: Spinicaudata: Leptestheriidae) from peninsular India.

Spinicaudatan clam shrimps are an evolutionarily ancient lineage restricted to temporary freshwater pools. Use of classical morpho-taxonomic approaches alone have led to some issues in the taxonomy of this group, which are now being resolved through integrative taxonomy. Here, we describe two new leptestherid spiny clam shrimps Leptestheria chalukyae sp. nov. and Leptestheria gomantaki sp. nov. from peninsular India based on their unique morphological characters and distinct phylogenetic position. We also re-describe Leptestheria nobilis and present an overview of the morphological characters of all the Indian leptestherids. Most of the conventional taxonomic characters appear to overlap among all the Indian species, although the combination of occipital condyle shape and the cercopod marginal spines arrangement in combination, appear to be useful in separating leptestherid species.

Assigning the Australian clam shrimp Eoleptestheria (Branchiopoda: Spinicaudata: Leptestheriidae) to a new species status.

We assign the only Australian leptestherid clam shrimp, Eoleptestheria ticinensis (Balsamo-Crivelli, 1859) to a new species status, Leptestheria timmsi sp. nov., based on the latest molecular phylogeny of spinicaudatan clam shrimps from a previous study. We provide a redescription of the species, highlighting morphological details not explored previously for this species. We also present a comparative account of all Eoleptestheria species and populations throughout the world. The head morphology of Leptestheria timmsi sp. nov. overlaps with other populations of Eoleptestheria and a few Leptestheria species. The telsonic and cercopod marginal spines seem to increase in size posteriorly in L. timmsi sp. nov., unlike in many other Eoleptestheria populations.

Review of the Eulimnadia (Branchiopoda: Spinicaudata: Limnadiidae) of Tropical Asia, with the Description of a New Species.

We describe a new species of Eulimnadia from the Oriental region using museum specimens collected from India and fresh material from Thailand. This species has egg morphology resembling E. magdalensis s. lat. and E. chaperi, but distinctly differs from them by presence of a narrow depression at the polygon floor. We also comment on the species status of E. khoratensis from Thailand based on egg morphology, and present a taxonomic key for identification of tropical Asian species of Eulimnadia.

Taxonomical account of the Indian Cyzicid Ozestheria annandalei (Daday, 1913) (Branchiopoda: Spinicaudata) from peninsular India.

The spinicaudatan family Cyzicidae represents a group of morphologically variable species whose taxonomy is still being updated (Schwentner et al. 2009, 2015, 2020; Rogers et al. 2017). There are 21 species of spinicaudatans currently reported from the Indian subcontinent out of which 4 species represent the Cyzicidae family (sensu Rogers Padhye, 2015; not considering the species from Eocyzicus genus which are now shifted to Eocyzicidae family sensu Schwentner et al. 2020). Ozestheria indica (Daday, 1913), one of the four species, has been re-described very recently (Padhye, 2020). Ozestheria indica and Ozestheria annandalei (Daday, 1913) are the two valid species currently known from peninsular India (Padhye, 2020; Rogers, 2020 2020). Padhye et al., (2015) re-described the female of a Cyzicus sp. which was later confirmed as C. annandalei (Rogers Padhye, 2015).

Taxonomical account of the Indian Cyzicid Ozestheria annandalei (Daday, 1913) (Branchiopoda: Spinicaudata) from peninsular India.

The spinicaudatan family Cyzicidae represents a group of morphologically variable species whose taxonomy is still being updated (Schwentner et al. 2009, 2015, 2020; Rogers et al. 2017). There are 21 species of spinicaudatans currently reported from the Indian subcontinent out of which 4 species represent the Cyzicidae family (sensu Rogers Padhye, 2015; not considering the species from Eocyzicus genus which are now shifted to Eocyzicidae family sensu Schwentner et al. 2020). Ozestheria indica (Daday, 1913), one of the four species, has been re-described very recently (Padhye, 2020). Ozestheria indica and Ozestheria annandalei (Daday, 1913) are the two valid species currently known from peninsular India (Padhye, 2020; Rogers, 2020). Padhye et al., (2015) re-described the female of a Cyzicus sp. which was later confirmed as C. annandalei (Rogers Padhye, 2015).

First record of Magnospina Sousa, Elmoor-Loureiro amp; Santos, 2016 (Cladocera: Chydoridae: Aloninae) from tropical India.

David Frey raised the hypothesis of non-cosmopolitanism in Cladocera in a series of his publications (Frey 1982, 1987). Since then, researchers have taken the effort to revise species groups with wide geographic distribution around the world (e.g. Kotov Dumont 2000; Sinev 2015; Van Damme Dumont 2008a; Sinev Elmoor-Loureiro 2009). The polyphyletic nature of the genus Alona Baird, 1843 (Van Damme et al. 2010) has further substantiated the view that cladocerans are non-cosmopolitan, with the creation of many new genera to accommodate the several species groups known within this genus (Van Damme Dumont 2008b; Sinev Kobayashi 2012; Van Damme Dumont 2009; Alonso Sinev 2019).

Taxonomical account of the Indian spiny clam shrimps (Crustacea: Branchiopoda: Spinicaudata) from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, USA.

I present taxonomical re-descriptions of two Indian spinicaudatan species deposited at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, USA, emphasizing on a few characters not highlighted in the original descriptions. Specimens collected from South India and deposited in the museum forty years ago were assessed and re-described. The study shows that the Cyzicidae species deposited as Caenestheriella sp. is Ozestheria indica while the Eulimnadia species is the widely distributed Eulimnadia michaeli. Many of the taxonomical characters were variable and did not exactly match the earlier description for both the species. Ozestheria indica could be distinguished from other valid Indian species on the telson characters and its occurrence proximity to the type locality of the species. This species is currently restricted to Peninsular India. Eulimnadia michaeli could be identified based on its characteristic egg surface morphology, though, the inner layers of the egg did vary when compared with the western Indian population. Using museum material, the validated species tally of Indian spiny clam shrimps now stands at 8 while 15 still await re-examination.

A new species of genus Eulimnadia Packard, 1874 (Branchiopoda: Spinicaudata: Limnadiidae) from India with an updated key for some Indian species.

We describe a new species of Eulimnadia, Eulimnadia bondi sp. nov., from the state of Goa, India. This is the 8th species to be described from the country and first from this state. This species differs from all other Indian species in having unique egg morphology-cylindrical egg with dilated borders at both ends and a specific internal eggshell structure. Specimens showed intra-population morphological variation as observed in other species from the genus. Eulimnadia bondi sp. nov. egg resembles the South American E. colombiensis and the Australian E. australiensis. These species are however distinguished on egg morphological details and by some morphological characteristic of adults. Based on the available information, we present an overview of the distribution of the different Indian Eulimnadia species and an updated identification key based on egg morphology.

An updated and detailed taxonomical account of the large Branchiopoda (Crustacea: Branchiopoda: Anostraca, Notostraca, Spinicaudata) from the Yale North India Expedition deposited in the Yale Peabody Natural History Museum.

We present an updated taxonomic account of a few of the large branchiopod species present in the collections of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. Our study shows that the Artemia species in the collections is not Artemia salina given the presence of spines at the base of the penis and its frontal knob morphology. This population cannot be assigned to any particular species due to lack of comparative material of other Artemia species and therefore, now reduces the authentic distribution record of Artemia salina to just one in the subcontinent. The morphology of eggs taken from the Streptocephalus longimanus allotype is distinct from what has been described later by having lower number of polygons on the egg surface. The gross morphology of the Triops cancriformis from Punjab, Pakistan resembles those of the Kashmir population from India except for its larger size. Based on the morphological comparison, we show that Eocyzicus deterrana is indeed synonymous to E. hutchinsoni. This work further changes the total species tally of large branchiopods from 44 of the Indian subcontinent to 45.

Molecular phylogenetic investigations of Triops granarius (Lucas, 1864 (Branchiopoda: Notostraca) from the type locality of the former Apus orientalis Tiwari, 1952 and three other localities in the Western Ghats of India.

We investigated the phylogenetic position of Triops granarius populations from four localities in the Western Ghats using partial sequences of three mitochondrial genes (COI, 12S rRNA and 16S rRNA) publicly available on the GenBank database. One of these localities, Panchgani, is particularly important since it is the type locality of the former Apus orientalis which is currently treated as a junior synonym of T. granarius. Phylogenetic analyses reveal that populations from all the four localities (Kolhapur, Chalkewadi, Panchgani, and Dighi) form a single lineage, which is here named 'Maharashtra lineage'. One of the two previously published samples from India, treated as lineage 'Triops granarius 4' is nested within this clade. The 'Maharashtra lineage' is separated from other lineages by mean maximum likelihood distance ≥ 11.9% in the COI gene. This distance is suggestive of a separation on species level from other lineages of T. granarius. This interpretation is further supported by a conservative genus-wide species delimitation analysis performed in the present study upon application of the Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery method. The 'Maharashtra lineage' branches out in two sub-lineages of Panchgani+Kolhapur and Dighi+L4+Chalkewadi samples, separated by 5.9% mean ML distance (uncorrected p-distance = 5.4%) in COI. The application of a 5% threshold to the COI dataset would thus even suggest a possible differentiation of both sub-lineages on species level. Comparative morphological data is presently not available because most vouchers associated with the sequences were depleted for DNA extraction. Further studies are needed in order to prepare a sound taxonomic revision. Thus, in the current study we refrain from re-instating Apus orientalis to full species status (likewise, for other names of Asian taxa in this morphogroup, including Apus sinensis Uéno, we retain the status as junior synonym of T. granarius). Nonetheless, our study highlights the fact that still there may be undescribed cryptic species associated with the specific name in this part of Western Ghats (Linnean Shortfall) and paves the way for future taxonomic investigations and conservation strategies for the genus Triops in India.

A new Indian record and morphological variation for Eulimnadia khoratensis Rogers et al., 2016 (Crustacea: Branchiopoda: Spinicaudata).

Eulimnadia Packard, 1874 is the most species rich and widely distributed genus within the Limnadiidae (Reed et al. 2015). Species identification relies primarily on egg morphology as adult morphological characters show high variability, sometimes within the same populations and hence of little use (Rabet, 2010; Rogers et al. 2012). Seven species are currently known from the Indian subcontinent (sensu Rogers & Padhye 2015) and SE Asia (Rogers et al. 2016). Of these, four species, viz. E. compressa (Baird, 1860), E. michaeli Nayar & Nair, 1968 and E. indocylindrova Durga Prasad and Simhachalam, 2004, E. azisi Babu and Nandan, 2010 are known from peninsular India (Padhye et al. 2015; Rogers & Padhye, 2015), although, much of this region remains unstudied (Padhye pers. obs.). With this background, we present a new Indian record of E. khoratensis Rogers, Dadseepai and Sanoamuang, 2016 from the Western region of Maharashtra state, India, extending its distribution a few thousand kilometers westwards.

Ontogenetic trajectory and allometry of Diplonychus rusticus (Fabricius), an Oriental aquatic bug (Hemiptera: Belostomatidae) from the Western Ghats of India.

Despite being one of the dominant groups in freshwater ecosystems, morphological and ontogenetic studies on aquatic Hemiptera have received little attention in the Oriental region. We present the ontogenetic trajectory and allometry of the widespread Oriental belostomatid species, Diplonychus rusticus (Fabricius) for the first time. We have measured nine different morphological variables throughout the growth of the bug using both field captured and laboratory reared specimens. Our results suggest that the developmental instars can be distinguished by the size variables, as seen in the Principal Component Analysis. On the basis of a CHAID (Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detection) based regression tree, we also show that the characters - total length without head and maximum width - prove to be adequate for effective instar identification. The multivariate allometric growth pattern shows that different body parts exhibit different types of allometry. This is apparent in the allometry exhibited by forelegs and mid and hind legs, which show allometry of opposite polarities. This may be due to the different functions attributed to these body parts. Our results show that the growth pattern in D. rusticus is comparable with the New World genus Belostoma, suggesting a conserved growth pattern in the family Belostomatidae.

Note on Kurzia (Kurzia) latissima (Kurz, 1875) (Branchiopoda: Anomopoda: Chydoridae) from India.

Members of the chydorid genus Kurzia Dybowski & Grochowski, 1894 (Branchiopoda: Anomopoda) are typically known from the Holarctic and the Neotropics (Rajapaska & Fernando 1986; Hudec 2000; Elmoor-Loureiro 2002; Kotov, 2004). One representative of the sub genus Kurzia, Kurzia (Kurzia) latissima (Kurz 1875) has been reported from India, in the Oriental Zone. These reports either have unreliable or no illustrations (Rane, 1983; Michael & Sharma 1988; Padhye & Dumont 2015). Recently, Chatterjee et al. (2013) have stated that records of K. latissima from India appear morphologically similar to K. latissima s.str. but have not elaborated on it. The aim of this correspondence is to present an initial diagnosis and provide illustrations of a Kurzia latissima-like population from the Northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra Province, India, along with comments on its distribution.

Moina hemanti sp. nov., a new species of the genus Moina s.l. (Branchiopoda: Anomopoda) from Pune, India.

We describe and figure Moina hemanti sp. nov. from ephemeral pools on the campus of Pune University, India. Although the pools flood during the monsoon, the moinid only appears irregularly and for a short period of time. In morphology, it is extremely close to Moina dumonti from Mexico and Cuba. This geographic gap remains unexplained for the time being, although more similar cases among cladocerans are on record. Molecular analysis has suggested that M. hemanti is relatively close to Moinodaphnia, and might form a genus in its own right, presumably together with M. dumonti. The latter, however, remains to be analyzed. Further candidates for this clade are Moina oryzae and M. rostrata, if the presence of an ocellus and/or a rostrum can be shown to be apomorphies.