Venkateswara Rao Totakura

First Asian Record of the Genus Parvulobathynella (Malacostraca: Bathynellacea) with Description of Two New Species from Southeastern India and Amendment of the Generic Diagnosis

Abstract The genus Parvulobathynella Schminke, 1973a, presently contains six species: three each from South America and Africa. Two new species of this genus, viz. Parvulobathynella distincta n. sp. and Parvulobathynella projectura n. sp., collected in the interstitial banks of the Rivers Krishna and Godavari in the southeastern India, are described and illustrated and their taxonomic position in the genus Parvulobathynella is discussed. To accommodate the Indian species, the generic diagnosis of Parvulobathynella is amended based, among other things, on the mandibular features such as the size and arrangement of molar teeth. The salient morphologic characters and their various states in the species of Parvulobathynella are reviewed. A note on the ecology and biogeography of the species is added. The monophyletic status of the family Leptobathynellidae is also briefly discussed.

HABROBATHYNELLA BORRAENSIS N. SP. (SYNCARIDA: BATHYNELLACEA: PARABATHYNELLIDAE) FROM THE BORRA CAVES OF SOUTHEASTERN INDIA, WITH A NOTE ON THE TAXONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE OF PARAGNATH MORPHOLOGY

Up until now, the genus Habrobathynella Schminke, 1973 had ten species in the world. Of these, two are known from Madagascar and eight from India. Habrobathynella borraensis n. sp. is described herein from the Borra Caves, southeastern India. This is the first cavernicolous species of the genus. The species has a unique combination of characters: male Th VIII elongate, somewhat subquadrate in lateral views, with both dentate and inner lobes moderately produced and reaching about the level of exopod; outer lobe thumb-like, much shorter than basipod and fused with protopod; exopod distinct from basipod, claw-like, incurved in lateral views and with denticulate apical margin; female Th VIII in the form of triangular lobe lying anteriorly; uropodal sympod with inhomonomous row of 4 spines, ultimate spine longer and thicker than proximal ones; pleotelson protruded at postero-lateral angle and shorter than caudal furca; and maxilla with 1 normal seta on first segment. The affinities of the new species with its congeners, especially Habrobathynella nagarjunai Ranga Reddy, 2002, are briefly discussed. The paragnath morphology is illustrated afresh for seven of the eight Indian species, and its usefulness as a species-specific criterion discussed. The length of the outer seta vs. the apical, inner seta of the uropodal exopod is also proposed as a new specific feature. Furthermore, a brief note on the biogeography of the species of Habrobathynella is added.

Indobathynella prehensilis n. gen., n. sp., an Aberrant Species of Bathynellacea (Eumalacostraca) from India

ABSTRACT A new bathynellacean, Indobathynella prehensilis n. gen., n. sp., is described from farm bores in southeastern India. This is an aberrant species, possessing such a unique combination of plesiomorphic and apomorphic characters that it cannot be assigned outright to any of the three known families of the order Bathynellacea, viz., Bathynellidae, Parabathynellidae, and Leptobathynellidae. And yet, it is provisionally placed in Bathynellidae pending reconstruction of the phylogenetic relationships within Bathynellacea. This decision is based mainly on the following plesiomorphies: 1) antennule is 7-segmented; 2) antenna has exopodal segment; 3) mandibular palp is 3-segmented; and 4) male thoracopod VIII has a basal penile lobe. The new taxon also displays some close apomorphic affinities with Parabathynellidae such as a 3-segmented prehensile maxilla, a lobe-like female thoracopod VIII, and a 1 -segmented pleopod I. The other spectacular apomorphies of the new species, some of them suggesting its possible neotenic origin, are unique to Bathynellacea as a whole, and these include: 1) antenna is 4-segmented, with extremely reduced armature; 2) gnathobase consisting of 5 distinct teeth is fused with the first segment of mandibular palp; 3) thoracopods I–VII have 2-segmented exo- and endopod, except for 3-segmented endopod on thoracopod I, and with only a single endopodal seta on thoracopods II–VII; and 4) male thoracopod VIII is greatly reduced and uncinate, with exopod being fused with basis and having only two setae. All in all, the new taxon seems to be a crucial phylogenetic link between Bathynellidae and Parabathynellidae. A note on the ecology and biogeography of the new species is also added.

Groundwater cyclopoid copepods of peninsular India, with description of eight new species

To date, only three stygobiotic cyclopoid species are known from India: Haplocyclops (Kiefercyclops) fiersi Karanovic & Ranga Reddy, 2005 and Rybocyclops dussarti Ranga Reddy & Defaye, 2008, from bores, and Allocyclopina inopinata Defaye & Ranga Reddy, 2008, from brackish conditions of a hyporheic habitat. Analysis of numerous groundwater samples collected during 2008-2013 from the hyporheic and phreatic habitats in the coastal deltaic belt of the Rivers Krishna and Godavari in Andhra Pradesh state, southeastern India, has shown ten stygobiotic cyclopoid species, of which eight are new to science: Anzcyclops indicus n. sp., Brevicyclops asetosus n. g., n. sp., Brevicyclops brevisetosus n. g., n. sp., Brevicyclops viduus n. g., n. sp., Halicyclops martinezi n. sp., Haplocyclops (Kiefercyclops) godavari n. sp., Haplocyclops (Kiefercyclops) primitivus n. sp., and Rybocyclops defayeae n. sp. All these species are formally described and illustrated herein. Allocyclopina inopinata, which perfectly agrees with its original account, is also recorded in several localities besides its type locality. The heretofore incompletely characterised Paracyclopina orientalis (Lindberg, 1941) is redescribed. A new cyclopid genus, Brevicyclops n. g., is established for three aforementioned new species. Its most diagnostic synapomorphy is the extreme reduction or complete absence of the principal outer apical seta of caudal ramus. So far, the cosmopolitan genus Halicyclops Norman, 1903, is known by six species in India, all from the surface environments. Now, a new species, H. martinezi n. sp., is described from an interstitial hyporheic habitat, and an identification key given for all the Indian species. The genus Anzcyclops Karanovic, Eberhard & Murdoch, 2011, which has hitherto been known from the Western Australia and New Zealand, is discovered in this study. A new species, Anzcyclops indicus n. sp., which has a close relationship with its Western Australian congeners, is described. A brief note on the biogeography of the Indian stygobiotic crustaceans is also added.

Camachobathynella meghalayaensisn. gen., n. sp., the first Palearctic element of Bathynellacea (Eumalacostraca: Bathynellidae) from northeastern India

A new bathynellacean, Camachobathynella meghalayaensisn. gen., n. sp., is described from a hyporheic habitat in Meghalaya, a northeastern Indian state. This is the first Palearctic bathynellacean from India. It has very little in common with the hitherto known tropical Bathynellidae Grobben, 1905 of India and other Gondwana landmasses, but it shows some close morphological relationships with the Palearctic members of the subfamily Bathynellinae Grobben, 1905. It has a unique of constellation of characters: antennule 7-segmented, with 5 setae on segment 7; antennary endopod 5-segmented and perpendicular to antennule, and exopod without medial seta; mandible sexually isomorphic with 3-segmented palp and distinct gnathobase; maxilla 4-segmented, setal formula 6-4-6-4; Th I-VII with 4-segmented endopod; male Th VIII penile region consisting of 3 lobes, none of them denticulate, basis armed with 2 setae on inner margin, exopod bent outwards and armed with 5 setae, and endopod absent; female Th VIII with large, biarticulate epipod, exopod and endopod 1-segmented, with 2 setae each; pleopod I 2-segmented, with 6 setae on distal segment; uropodal sympod with 5 equal spines; caudal furca with 4 spines; and pleotelson with 2 dorsal moderately strong setae. Of these characters, the male Th VIII lacking endopod and the caudal furca having only four spines can be considered the autapomorphies of the new genus within in the subfamily Bathynellinae. The position of the new taxon in Bathynellidae is discussed, and a brief note on its ecology and biogeography is also added.

HIMALAYACARIS ALAKNANDA N. GEN., N. SP. (COPEPODA: HARPACTICOIDA: PARASTENOCARIDIDAE) FROM THE HYPOREIC ZONE OF A HIMALAYAN RIVER, NORTHERN INDIA

We establish Himalayacaris n. gen. to accommodate the type and only species, Himalayacaris alaknanda n. sp., collected in the Himalayan Alaknanda River, Uttarakhand, northern India. This species displays three principal autapomorphies of the male leg 4, which are considered diagnostic for the genus: 1) the enormous, conical, plate-like modified structure at the proximal inner corner of the coxa, bearing hair-like spinules at inner distal margin; 2) the condition of the endopod, a small, unornamented, plate-like structure ending in a tiny papilla fused to the basis; and 3) the short and somewhat modified first exopodal segment, ornamented with an additional row of obliquely directed spinules on its dilated inner margin. Another unique feature of this species is the row of long spinules on the proximal inner margin of the basis of the male leg 2. Himalayacaris is closely related to the Neotropical Remaniecaris Jakobi, 1972, but differs from it, inter alia, in the details of the setae of the caudal rami, ‘pocket knife type’ of the male antennules, the shape of the basis and the configuration of the exopod and endopod of male leg 3, the insertion of the outer spine of the third exopodal segment of male leg 4, the absence of additional ornamentation of endopod of the male leg 4 and the configuration and armature of leg 5. This is the first hyporheic species from the Ganges River system in the Garhwal Himalayas and the second one from the Himalayan rivers. The phylogenetic position of the new taxon within Parastenocarididae is discussed. In addition, a brief note is given on the ecology of the new species, especially on its skewed sex ratio resulting from the scarcity of males (spanandry), and also on its biogeography.

A NEW PHREATIC SPECIES OF THE GENUS PARVULOBATHYNELLA (MALACOSTRACA: BATHYNELLACEA) FROM SOUTHEASTERN INDIA, ALONG WITH AN UPDATED KEY TO THE SPECIES

ABSTRACT Up until now, the genus Parvulobathynella Schminke, 1973, had eight species in the world. Of these, three species each are known from South America and Africa, and two from peninsular India. Parvulobathynella macrodentata n. sp. is described herein from the phreatic zone of southeastern India. Interestingly, the new species has striking mandibular affinity with the Brazilian Odontobathynella amazonica Delamare Deboutteville and Serban, 1979. So the mandibular criteria of Parvulobathynella are suitably amended to accommodate the new species and the interrelationships of Parvulobathynella and Odontobathynella, briefly discussed. The paper also provides an updated key to the world species of Parvulobathynella in addition to some ecological notes on the new species.

A new genus and two new species of Parastenocarididae (Copepoda: Harpacticoida) from southeastern India

ABSTRACT Indocaris gen. nov. with two new species, Indocaris imbricata sp. nov. and Indocaris inopinata sp. nov., and also for the already known Indocaris tirupatiensis (Ranga Reddy 2011a) comb. nov. – all from the groundwaters in peninsular India. The highly diagnostic synapomorphy of the new genus is a composite character associated with the male leg 4 basis: five or six prominent, imbricate, enlarged, petal-like spinules, arranged as a semi-whorl at the insertion of the endopod and increasing in size from internal to external. Another distinctive feature of the same appendage is that its one-segmented endopod is dilated or bulbous in the proximal half, produced distally into an incurved spiniform or horn-like structure about as long as the corresponding first exopodal segment, and ornamented with three or four fine spinules on the subproximal outer margin. The three species also share a unique constellation of other salient morphologic features, which along with the phylogenetic position of Indocaris gen. nov. within the family Parastenocarididae are discussed. Indocaris gen. nov. has closest phylogenetic affinity with the Neotropical Remaneicari Jakobi, 1972. A short note on the ecology and biogeography of the parastenocaridid species of the Indian subcontinent is provided besides a key for their identification.

Two hyporheic species of the genus Cerconeotes Huys, 1992: C. euryhalinus (Krishnaswamy, 1957) and C. huysi n. sp. (Copepoda, Harpacticoida, Leptastacidae) from India

To date, the genus Cerconeotes Huys, 1992, has seven nominal species, all known mostly from marine interstitial waters. Here, Cerconeotes euryhalinus (Krishnaswamy, 1957), an incompletely described and little-known species, is redescribed in detail after designating the neotype, and an illustrated description is given for Cerconeotes huysi n. sp. Both species were collected from freshwater as well as brackish water hyporheic habitats in southeastern India. The morphological relationships of these species with their congeners are discussed, and two criteria of the original generic definition emended. Cerconeotes huysi n. sp. is unique in the genus in the shape and armature of leg 5 in both sexes, in the male leg 3 second endopodal segment with two smooth, spine-like reduced elements (one apical and one subapical), and the long caudal rami and their armature elements. It closely resembles C. euryhalinus . A brief note on the ecology of the species is also added.

Three new species of the genus Habrobathynella Schminke, 1973 (Syncarida, Parabathynellidae) from the peninsular India.

The genus Habrobathynella Schminke, 1973, presently contains 11 species: two species from Madagascar and nine from the peninsular India. Two new species of this genus, viz. H. ajraoi n. sp., and H. parakrishna n. sp., both collected in the phreatic waters of farm bores, and one new species of the same genus, H. pseudoindica n. sp., taken from the hyporheic zone of the River Krishna, are described and illustrated, and their position in the genus is discussed. H. ajraoi n. sp. has a unique combination of characters, viz. male Th VIII penile region extending well beyond basipod; basipodal seta unusually long, overreaching penile region; uropodal sympod with inhomonomous row of seven spines, with penultimate and ultimate spines being longer than proximal ones; mandibular tooth of ventral edge fused, and pars molaris fork-like with only four small, fused teeth; labrum with eight elongate teeth; female Th VIII subovate in outline; and maxilla with three unequal setae on proximal segment. H. parakrishna n. sp. is distinct from its congeners in having only moderately produced male Th VIII penile lobes; antennular sixth segment with three unequal aesthetascs subapically; maxilla with only 1 seta at inner distal corner of proximal segment; uropodal sympod with inhomonomous row of five spines, penultimate spine longest and thickest, and ultimate spine as long as proximal ones; and labrum slightly vaulted, bearing 16 teeth. H. pseudoindica n. sp. has a relatively short, subglobular male Th VIII; uropodal sympod with inhomonomous row of four spines, ultimate one longest; pleotelson slightly protruded in lateral view; maxilla with two rather unequal setae on first segment; labrum vaulted, with ten main, large teeth. Furthermore, the principal morphological characters and their states among the habrobathynellids, with special reference to the new species, are briefly discussed.