Reports of Baetidae (Ephemeroptera) species from Tafna Basin, Algeria and biogeographic affinities revealed by DNA barcoding

Abstract

The Mediterranean basin is known to be the cradle of many endemic species. Within mayflies (Insecta, Ephemeroptera), North African species belonging to the family Baetidae remain poorly known and, traditionally, affinities to European fauna were proposed. Recent studies, based on molecular reconstructions, showed closer relationships to Mediterranean islands fauna. Baetidae were sampled from North-West Algerian wadis (Tafna basin) and involved in COI barcoding reconstructions. Seven species were identified. The subgenus Rhodobaetis is represented by Baetis atlanticus known previously from Macaronesian islands, Europe and Morocco and the Maghrebian endemic Baetis sinespinosus. Specimens, previously identified as Cloeon cf. dipterum, correspond to Cloeon peregrinator and, until now, only reported from Macaronesia. Besides the confirmation of endemicity of some species, such as Procloen stagnicola and B. sinespinosus, our molecular study showed quite original results for relationships between European, insular and Algerian species. Baetis maurus stood out as a North African endemic sister clade to an Iberian clade. Furthermore, we found clear interspecific distances between Algerian and European clades for A. cf. sinaica and B. cf. pavidus, suggesting the presence of cryptic species in Algeria. However, additional studies are needed, as, for the moment, no clear morphological characters were found to separate the different clades and support them as valid species.

Biogeography, ecology, and conservation of mayfly communities of relict mountain streams, north‐eastern Algeria

“…Our specimens morphologically and genetically corresponded to (Soldán & Godunko, 2006;Benhadji et al, 2020).…”

“…Based on the shape of the posterior wing, C. algiricum may well turn out to be a Procloeon species. Equally important is the discovery of C. peregrinator in western Algeria (Benhadji et al, 2020), previously believed to be endemic to Madeira (Gattolliat et al, 2008) Liebenau, 1969;Jacob, 2003). This subgenus includes three known species from Algeria: Baetis chelif, Baetis sinespinosus, and B. atlanticus (Thomas, 1998;Bauernfeind & Soldán, 2012;Benhadji et al, 2020).…”

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

“…This character allows an easy and unambiguous identification of the species in the Maghreb. Baetis (Patites) berberus and Baetis (Patites) punicus are much more difficult to identify with confidence; especially as the preliminary molecular results indicate that Patites is much more diversified than expected and new sibling species are expected (Murria et al 2017;Benhadji et al 2020).…”

“…This checklist is undeniably valuable, despite confirmatory work remains needed as it likely contained some synonymies and misidentifications. In the last few years, a renewed interest in the taxonomy and ecological determinants of mayfly distribution is noted (Mebarki et al 2017;Benhadji et al 2018Benhadji et al , 2019Benhadji et al , 2020Kechemir et al 2020;Samraoui et al 2021a-d). Systematic surveys by the Laboratoire de Conservation des Zones Humides in Algeria are covering eight regions or river basins (Seybouse River, Rhummel, Wadi El Kebir-East, Collo, Aures, Djurdjura, Tiaret, and the Sahara).…”

“…In addition, collected data have allowed the elucidation of several mayfly life cycles ( Bouhala et al 2020a , b ; Samraoui et al 2021a , d ). Further west, investigations of the mayflies from the Tafna River Basin are still proceeding ( Benhadji et al 2020 ). With 19 reported species, Baetidae is by far the most diversified but also the most problematic family in Algeria.…”