The taxonomy of two species of Indian pilumnid crabs is treated herein. Heteropanope neolaevis Deb, 1985, originally described from northeastern India, is retained in the genus Aniptumnus Ng, 2002 as a valid species and removed from synonymy with Aniptumnus quadridentatus (De Man, 1895). A new species, Aniptumnus bijoyi, is described from southwestern India, based on distinguishing features in the carapace, thoracic sternum, pereopods and gonopods. With these developments, five species of Aniptumnus are now recognized.

The epibenthic euryhaline hydromedusa Vallentinia gabriellae Vannucci Mendes, 1948 is an olindiid species native to tropical Atlantic waters. Here, we describe the cryptic introduction of this species in an estuary along the coast of Kerala, in southwestern India. This study records the existence of V. gabriellae outside of Atlantic waters for the first time and documents its geographical range expansion. Our identification was based on a combined morphological and DNA barcoding assessment using the COI and 28S markers. Although we noted some morphological differences between our specimens and those from their native range, our findings were conclusive. We suggest that phenotypic plasticity may result from differences such as prey availability between the native and introduced habitats. V. gabriellae medusae are epibenthic and cling to a variety of hard and soft substrates, including bivalves. Our specimens were associated with the invasive fouling mussel Mytella strigata, and we suggest that V. gabriellae could have been transported along with these mussels to the Kerala coast.