First records of three Paraprionospio species (Polychaeta: Spionidae) from Indian waters

The spionid polychaete Paraprionospio pinnata (Ehlers, 1901) has been widely reported from Indian waters. We examined 47 Paraprionospio specimens collected from the west and northwest coast of India, and identified them as Paraprionospio cordifolia Yokoyama, 2007, Paraprionospio cristata Zhou, Yokoyama and Li, 2008, and Paraprionospio patiens Yokoyama, 2007, which are new to the fauna of India. The present study suggests that Paraprionospio species inhabiting Indian waters have been misidentified as P. pinnata and that P. cordifolia, P. cristata, and P. patiens are wide- ly distributed in the Far East and south Asia.