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Despite Greece being a global hotspot of subterranean biodiversity, its hypogean fauna is largely neglected from both an ecological and conservational point of view. An overview of the Niphargidae occurring in Greece is presented as an annotated list of all available published records. These records have resulted in an updated species list reflecting taxonomic corrections and species distribution range in the Greek peninsula. A total of 23 species, attributed to 3 genera, is up to date known from Greece with a high rate of endemicity found particularly in Crete. The endemic species of Greece amount to 21 (91% of total species richness), with the remaining species distributing also in the Republic of North Macedonia. Currently, none of them is listed in the national, European or global IUCN Red Lists of Threatened Species. Considering the increasing habitat degradation due to anthropic pressure, groundwater harvesting and climate change we could lose rare and endemic species without even acknowledging their existence.

Niphargidae is among the largest families of freshwater subterranean amphipods in the world, and one of the most important macroinvertebrate groups in European groundwaters. The knowledge of their species diversity on a country level is often incomplete due to demanding taxonomy. In this paper we critically evaluated species diversity of the family in Belgium, using published records and samples from our own field work. Morphology-based identifications confirmed the presence of genera Microniphargus and Niphargus, represented with one and eight species, respectively. Most of the species found in Belgium belonged to complexes of cryptic species, which are still awaiting their taxonomic epilogue. Four species belong to phylogenetic lineages distributed also across British Isles, whereas three species belong to lineages distributed in the west-continental Europe. Identity of one species was doubtful, and two populations, partially illustrated herein, showed distinct morphology and might belong to a new species. All together, Niphargidae were found at 172 localities, with 80% of sites harboring one species only. At 12 localities three to six species co-occurred. When mapped onto 10x10 km grid, up to seven different species were recorded per quadrate. Species richest quadrates were situated in the southeastern part of the country. Paucity of records from the northern part of the country imply lack of research, rather than absence of Niphargidae. Conservation status of Belgian Niphargidae has not been evaluated so far; assessment of this status would require further sampling and detailed taxonomic work.

New species of the genus Niphargus is described and named as N. kermanshahi sp. nov. from a karst spring in west of Iran. This species is identified based on the analysis of morphological characters and 28S ribosomal DNA sequences. Taxonomic status and phylogenetic position of this species is discussed in comparison to other Iranian species of Niphargus genus.

We describe and phylogenetically characterize a new species Niphargus mirocensis from Mt. Miroč, eastern Serbia. This species shows distinct morphology typical for a lake ecomorph of niphargid amphipod, i.e. large and stout body, elongated appendages and raptorial gnathopods and presents the first record of this ecomorph in Carpathian Mountains. Phylogenetic analyses based on Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit 1 gene (COI), Histone (H3) and 28S rRNA (28S) suggests that species is nested within a clade of lake ecomorphs spread in Italy and Central Dinaric Region. The new finding is geographic extension of clade's range, the species of which are generally narrow endemics.

Four new species from the amphipod genus Niphargus are described, namely N. borisi sp. nov., N. bisitunicus sp. nov., N. darvishi sp. nov. and N. sharifi sp. nov. All four species of this predominantly subterranean genus were collected from springs in the Western region of Iran (Zagros region), which is the eastern borderline of the genus range. The species are morphologically diagnosed, described and illustrated. With these newly described species, the total number of Niphargus species in the Middle East reaches twenty-three. In order to facilitate the identification of Niphargus species in the region and to make future taxonomy of the genus easier, we have compiled a database in DEscription Language for TAxonomy (DELTA) using 23 diagnostic traits for these 23 species and subspecies identified in the Middle East. The database is available on the web as supplementary material whereas the dichotomous identification key automatically generated from the database for routine use is provided as a part of the paper.

We describe a new species of an amphipod Niphargus zagorae sp. n. and redescribe its nearest relative and morphologically similar species N. boskovici S. Karaman, 1952. We present the geographic distributions of both species, morphological diagnoses and infer their phylogenetic position within the genus based on COI, 28S and H3 markers.