Limnius opacus Müller, 1806

Lamine, Smail, Lounaci, Abdelkader & Bennas, Nard, 2019, Biodiversity and chorology of aquatic beetles (Coleoptera: Elmidae and Hydraenidae) in Kabylia (central-north Algeria). New records and updates, Zootaxa 4700 (1), pp. 102-116 : 110-111

Limnius opacus Müller, 1806

Material examined. BH: 9-V-2013 (45 exs.), S1: 9-V-2013 (48 exs.), A4: 7-V-2013 (38 exs.), A5: 7-V-2013 (35 exs.), A6: 7-V-2013 (30 exs.).

Chorotype. Europeo-Mediterranean.

In North Africa, L. opacus is known only in Morocco and Algeria. The previous Algerian records of this species are from Mouzaïa and the Djurdjura massifs ( Berthélemy 1964; Lounaci 1987, 2005; Aït Mouloud 1988; Lounaci- Daoudi 1996). During the present study, it was captured in five additional locations at altitudes between 160 m and 380 m in habitats of middle-reach streams, with intermittent flow. Four out of the five sites are impacted by domestic water pollution and sand and gravel extraction.

In Morocco, although the species is recorded at altitudes between 60 m and 2500 m, it is more abundant at high altitudes ( Bennas & Sáinz-Cantero 2007; Benamar 2015). In Austria, the species prefers warmer streams, approximately from the metarhithral to epipotamal zone ( Jäch et al. 2005). In Czechia, the species was listed as critically endangered by Boukal (2005), and later as regionally extinct ( Boukal et al. 2007).