Annotated check-list of semi-aquatic bugs of Tunisia, with detailed Faunistic Survey of North Tunisia (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Gerromorpha)

Unravelling the environmental correlates influencing the seasonal biodiversity of aquatic Heteropteran assemblages in northern Africa

“…The salinity (SAL), electric conductivity (COND), and total dissolved salts (TDS) of stream waters were identified as the primary factor controlling Heteroptera diversity. Many oligo-and mesotrophic taxa, such as Veliidae and Notonectidae, were abundant in streams with low mineralization and higher DO concentrations, but some Corixidae displayed an association with brackish water systems; comparable to results reported in other studies (Slimani et al, 2015(Slimani et al, , 2016.…”

“…headwater streams, lowland rivers) and lentic (e.g. pond, lakes, coastal rock pools) waterbodies (Slimani et al, 2015(Slimani et al, , 2016(Slimani et al, , 2017. Heteropterans are important for the functioning of aquatic ecosystems as they help regulate fluxes of energy and matter across aquatic food webs, through facilitating nutrient cycling and providing a source of food for higher trophic levels (Brown and McLachlan, 2010;Amaral et al, 2016).…”

“…Globally, the majority of aquatic Heteropterans belong to one of two major groups: Nepomorpha (water bugs) which largely live below the water surface, and Gerromorpha (water striders) comprising species that inhabit the water surface film (Polhemus and Polhemus, 2008). Both Nepomorpha and Gerromorpha are particularly common within Mediterranean freshwater ecosystems (De Figueroa et al, 2013), including those of northern Africa (Aukema et al, 2013;Slimani et al, 2015Slimani et al, , 2016. The distribution and diversity of both subgroups may be influenced by a range of environmental factors, including physicochemical conditions (particularly dissolved solutes and oxygen concentrations), flow conditions (lentic or lotic habitats) and water temperature (Tully et al, 1991;Hufnagel et al, 1999;Barahona et al, 2005;Karaouzas and Gritzalis, 2006;Skern et al, 2010).…”