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.

Platelet-Rich Fibrin as a Grafting Material in Periapical Surgery: A Case Series.

Positive effects of platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) on soft tissue healing are well documented, but its role in hard-tissue healing remains contested. The present case series documents the use of PRF as the sole grafting material in periapical bone defects. PRF was prepared and condensed into the bone defects after debridement. The defects were then covered with a collagen membrane and wound closure was performed. In all three cases presented in this report, excellent bone fill was observed in the periapical defects. The observed benefit may be due to the role of fibrin in initial clot stabilization. The elaboration of various growth factors by the platelets and leukocytes in the PRF clot may also play a role.

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.

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.