First report of overlooked marine gastropods from India concerning their geographical distribution

Recent marine benthic surveys off the eastern Andaman coast have revealed six unusual marine gastropods namely, Homalocantha anatomica (Perry in Conchology or the natural history of shells; containing a new arrangement of the genera and species, W. Miller, London, 1811 ), Aspella aclydis Houart (NOVAPEX 18(4):81–103, 2017 ), Aspella mauritiana Radwin and D'Attilio (Murex shells of the World: An illustrated guide to the Muricidae 11:284p, 1976 ), Cheilea imbricata (Fischer Von Waldheim in Moscow: Imprimerie de Université Impériale de Moscou 3:300pp, 1807 ), Cheilea bulla (Reeve in Conchologia Iconica, or, illustrations of the shells of molluscous animals 11:1–8, 1858 ), and Amonovula pirie (Petuch in The Veliger 16(1):103–104, 1973 ), as new records to Indian water. Of the recorded gastropods, Aspella aclydis , Amonovula piriei , and Cheilea bulla which are widely distributed in the eastern and central Indo-Pacific bioregions, establish as the first record from the western Indo-Pacific marine province. While Aspella mauritiana , Homalocantha anatomica and Cheilea imbricata inhabiting the western Indian Ocean and the central Indo-Pacific ecoregions, fill a large gap in their geographical distribution in the Andaman Sea.