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.