Two new species of jumping spiders, Colyttus proszynskii sp. nov. (♂) and Synagelides brahmaputra sp. nov. (♀), are described from India. The genus Colyttus Thorell 1891 is recorded for the first time in India.

Seafood consumption is highly demanding due to the important source of protein it contains, as well as being rich in omega-3 fatty acids. However, the adulteration of seafood is an alarming issue worldwide, including India. This study deals with edible crabs from seafood shops on the Odisha state coast in eastern India. The generated DNA barcode sequences successfully identified most of the studied brachyuran crab species by similarity search results in global databases. The species were also delimited by significant genetic divergence and Neighbour-Joining phylogeny. Additionally, the study detected the contamination of unknown organisms in the commercialized crab recipes from seafood shops. The DNA based species detection of brachyuran crab may be useful to resolve many ambiguities in species identification and monitoring of commercialized seafood concerning food safety.

The study attempted identification of Gobiid fishes from freshwaters in the east and northeast India on a collection of 20 specimens. The DNA barcode data delineated the collected samples into three species clades in the neighbor-joining tree. The results confirmed the identification of five sample sequences belonging to the subfamily Gobionellinae due to cohesive cladding with Awaous congeners. This is a new subfamily record for the northeastern region. Another 15 sample sequences showed conspecific cladding with Glossogobius giuris in the database. Among the 15 sample sequences, 14 sequences cladded with G. giuris sequences of Indian specimens while one sample sequence cladded with G. giuris sequences of South African specimens. This indicated the presence of either a hidden species or a previously synonymized species in the G. giuris complex.

Psechrus inflatus Bayer, 2012 previously known from China, is recorded for the first time in India. Partial sequence data of mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase (mtCOI) was generated and is submitted in BOLD.

Menemerus nigli Wesolowska & Freudenschuss, 2012 previously known from Western Pakistan is reported in Eastern India. Illustrations of the habitus, male palp and distribution map are provided. DNA barcode data obtained for this species is available at BOLD.

Thrips are one of the major sucking pest and vector of plant viruses causing huge economic loss in agriculture. The accurate identification of thrips is crucial for effective pest management strategies. However, morphology based identification has limitations and warrants integration of molecular data. We attempted the largest DNA barcoding initiative on 370 sequences of 89 thrips morphospecies including 104 novel sequences from 39 morphospecies, including the type specimens of four species. The results of multiple species delimitation methods (BIN, ABGD, GMYC and bPTP) were consistent for 73 species (82%) with their morphological identifications. A total of 107 molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) was recovered for 89 morphospecies by superimposing multiple methods and applying a three level nomenclature system. We detected more than one MOTU in 14 morphospecies indicating to have cryptic diversity including, two major vector species ( Frankliniella schultzei and Thrips palmi ). However, four morphospecies ( Thrips moundi , Thrips carthami , Haplothrips andersi and Haplothrips gowdeyi ) showed low genetic distances between them with overlapping in barcode gap that requires further analysis with multiple molecular markers and more specimens from wide geographical areas for better taxonomic judgment. We also presented the advantage of simultaneous use of multiple delimitation methods for detection and identification of cryptic species.

Two new species, Epocilla sirohi sp.n. (male) and Mogrus rajasthanensis sp.n. (female), are described from Rajasthan State of India. Partial sequence data of mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase (mtCOI) from the holotypes of both new species were generated. The genus Mogrus Simon, 1882 is recorded from India for the first time.