Baetidae (Baetidae, Ephemeroptera) in the Maghreb: state of the art, key, and perspectives

Jean-Luc Gattolliat; Boudjéma Samraoui; Nadhira Benhadji; Lina Kechemir; Sonia Zrelli; Sara El Yaagoubi; Majida El Alami El Moutaouakil; Michel Sartori

doi:10.3897/zookeys.1139.94586

Baetidae (Baetidae, Ephemeroptera) in the Maghreb: state of the art, key, and perspectives

Zookeys. 2023 Jan 13:1139:137-163. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1139.94586. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jean-Luc Gattolliat^{1

2}, Boudjéma Samraoui^{3

4}, Nadhira Benhadji^{5

6}, Lina Kechemir⁷, Sonia Zrelli^{8

9}, Sara El Yaagoubi¹⁰, Majida El Alami El Moutaouakil¹⁰, Michel Sartori^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Museum of Zoology, Palais de Rumine, Place Riponne 6, CH-1014 Lausanne, Switzerland Museum of Zoology Lausanne Switzerland.
² Department of Ecology and Evolution, Biophore, University of Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland.
³ Laboratoire de Conservation des Zones Humides, University 8 mai 1945, Guelma, Algeria Université 8 Mai 1945 Guelma Algeria.
⁴ Department of Biology, University Badji Mokhtar Annaba, Annaba, Algeria University Badji Mokhtar Annaba Annaba Algeria.
⁵ Laboratoire de Recherche Valorisation des Actions de L'homme Pour la Protection de L'environnement et Application en Santé Publique, University of Tlemcen, BP 119, 13000 Tlemcen, Algeria University of Tlemcen Tlemcen Algeria.
⁶ Department of Hydrobiology, Institute of Biology, University of Szczecin, Felczaka street 3 c, 71- 412 Szczecin, Poland University of Szczecin Szczecin Poland.
⁷ Faculté des Sciences agronomiques et des sciences biologiques, University of Mouloud Mammeri, Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria University of Mouloud Mammeri Tizi-Ouzou Algeria.
⁸ Unit of Hydrobiology, Laboratory of Environment Biomonitoring (LBE), Faculty of Sciences of Bizerta, University of Bizerta, 7021 Jarzouna, Tunisia University of Bizerta Jarzouna Tunisia.
⁹ Honoris United Universities, Ecole Polytechnique Centrale, Avenue Mohamed V, 1002 Tunis, Tunisia Honoris United Universities Tunis Tunisia.
¹⁰ Laboratory of Ecology, Systematics and Conservation of the Biodiversity, department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Abdelmalek Essaadi, Avenue Sebta, 93002 Tetouan, Morocco University of Abdelmalek Essaadi Tetouan Morocco.

Abstract

Among mayflies, Baetidae are often considered as easy to recognise at the family level, but difficult to identify at lower level. In several faunistic or ecological studies, the identification remains at the family level; Baetidae are generally considered as widespread and ubiquitous, therefore as poorly informative for ecological studies or bioassessments. Here, a straightforward identification key is offered to larvae of the ten genera of Baetidae reported from Maghreb based on easily observable and understandable characters. The diversity, ecology, and distribution of each taxonomic unit (genera or subgenera) are discussed and the main difficulties for deeper identification are pointed out. Future challenges and remaining taxonomic riddles for Maghrebian Baetidae are detailed.

Keywords: Algeria; Morocco; Tunisia; aquatic insects; identification key; mayflies.

Jean-Luc Gattolliat, Boudjéma Samraoui, Nadhira Benhadji, Lina Kechemir, Sonia Zrelli, Sara El Yaagoubi, Majida El Alami El Moutaouakil, Michel Sartori.