The genus Niphargus, the most diverse subterranean amphipod genus in the western Palearctic, shows many cryptic species and homoplasy, necessitating molecular methods for understanding its evolution. In a new study, published in Contributions to Zoology, we used DNA-based taxonomy and traditional morphotaxonomy to study Niphargus bihorensis Schellenberg, 1940, from the Western Alps and Carpathians. The type material from Bihor County, Romania, revealed a cryptic species, N. absconditus n. sp., in the same area. Furthermore, we describe the Alpine populations as a new species, N. tizianoi n. sp. Our phylogenetic analyses suggest the N. bihorensis species complex is part of a well-supported clade with species ranging from Switzerland to Iran.