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. andParvulobathynella 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 ofParvulobathynella 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.