Nat. Croat. Vol. 24(1), 2015 93 NAT. CROAT. VOL. 24 No 1 93–109 ZAGREB June 30, 2015 original scientific paper / izvorni znanstveni rad ANNOTATED CHECKLIST OF CROATIAN RIFFLE BEETLES (INSECTA: COLEOPTERA: ELMIDAE) Vlatka Mičetić Stanković1,3*, Manfred A. Jäch2 & Mladen Kučinić3 1 Croatian Natural History Museum, Demetrova 1, Zagreb 2 Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Burgring 7, A – 1010 Wien, Austria 3 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Rooseveltov trg 6, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia Mičetić Stanković, V., Jäch, M.A. & Kučinić, M.: Annotated checklist of Croatian riffle beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera: Elmidae). Nat. Croat., Vol. 24, No. 1, 93–109, 2015, Zagreb In this paper an annotated checklist of Croatian riffle beetles is presented. It is a result of a literature review, revision of museum collections, implementation of results from various environmental impact and baseline studies, as well as field investigations throughout Croatia from 2002–2013. Altogether 23 species in eight genera of Elmidae were identified. Five species are new for the Croatian fauna: Elmis rioloides (Kuwert 1890), Esolus angustatus (Müller 1821), E. pygmaeus (Müller 1806), Oulimnius tuberculatus (Müller 1806) and Stenelmis consobrina Dufour 1835. Furthermore, the occurrence of Elmis aenea (Müller 1806) in Croatia is confirmed. Keywords: Insecta, Coleoptera, Elmidae, riffle beetles, first records, freshwater, water beetles Mičetić Stanković, V., Jäch, M.A. & Kučinić, M.: Popis slapoljuba (Insecta: Coleoptera: Elmidae) Hrvatske s napomenama. Nat. Croat., Vol. 24, No. 1, 93–109, 2015, Zagreb U ovom je radu dat popis slapoljuba Hrvatske s napomenama o njihovoj biologiji i staništima u Hrvatskoj. Rezultat je pregleda literature, uvida u muzejske zbirke, implementacije rezultata stručnih studija i elaborata, kao i prikupljanja vodenih kornjaša tijekom raznih terenskih istraživanja duž Hr- vatske u razdoblju od 2002. do 2013. godine. Ukupno su utvrđene 23 vrste slapoljuba s pet novih vrsta za faunu Hrvatske: Elmis rioloides (Kuwert 1890), Esolus angustatus (Müller 1821), E. pygmaeus (Müller 1806), Oulimnius tuberculatus (Müller 1806) i Stenelmis consobrina Dufour 1835. Potvrđena je i prisutnost vrste Elmis aenea (Müller 1806) u Hrvatskoj. Ključne riječi: Insecta, Coleoptera, Elmidae, slapoljub, prvi nalazi, slatkovodno, vodeni kornjaši INTRODUCTION Beetles are the largest order of insects, comprised of numerous representatives adap- ted to different environmental conditions. The ones that inhabit freshwater are known as water beetles, which is not a phylogenetic but an ecological term. Water beetles are connected with water in at least one stage of their life cycle (see also Jäch, 1998). Elmidae are considered as “true water beetles” (sensu Jäch, 1998). In Europe, Elmidae are repre- sented by 10 genera and more than 40 species. In Croatia’s neighbouring countries, where Elmidae have been systematically studied so far, 21 species were recorded from Austria, 16 from Hungary and 27 from Italy (Jäch et al., 2006). * corresponding author: [email protected] 94 Mi~eti} Stankovi}, V. et al.: Annotated checklist of Croatian riffle beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera: Elmidae) Together with other water beetles, Elmidae are among the most common organisms in benthic communities of rivers and streams (Miserendino & Archangelsky, 2006; Jäch & Balke, 2008). They have a complex life cycle which includes both water and riparian zones, and they are used as bioindicators for water quality and habitat preservation (see Crowson, 1981; Moog & Jäch, 1995, 2003; Elliott, 2008; New, 2010). Adult Elmidae are rather small-sized (on average 2–3 mm) and at least partly covered with a hydrofuge pubescence that functions as a plastron and enables them direct inta- ke of oxygen from the surrounding water (Cooter & Barclay, 2006; Kodada et al., 2014). Systematic research on the distribution of the family Elmidae in Croatia has not been carried out so far. Viktor Apfelbeck (1859–1934), insect dealer and curator in Sarajevo, was obviously the first entomologist who sampled Elmidae in Croatia. His specimens are deposited in various European museum collections. One valid species of Elmidae, Esolus czwalinae Kuwert 1889, was even described from Croatia, as well as one species, which is currently regarded as a synonym (Lareynia croatica Kuwert 1890 = Elmis obscura (Müller 1806)). Elmis rufiventris Kuwert 1890 (= Li- mnius intermedius Fairmaire 1881) and Riolus bosnicus Kuwert 1889 (= R. subviolaceus (Müller 1817)) were described from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (type locality not yet fixed). In the second half of the twentieth century Novak (1952, 1970) collected water beetles in the Mediterranean part of Croatia where he identified seven species of Elmidae. Spo- radically, Elmidae were investigated as part of benthic communities in projects with special interest in Croatia, i.e. National Park Plitvice Lakes (Matoničkin & Pavletić, 1967; Matoničkin et al., 1971; Habdija et al., 1994), from where these authors identified five taxa: Esolus sp., Limnius sp., Riolus sp. and Elmis sp., and E. maugetii Latreille 1802. During investigations of benthic invertebrate communities in aquatic habitats in the Dinaric area, Marinković-Gospodnetić et al. (1980) highlighted that water beetles are unduly among the least investigated groups of aquatic insects in this region. Additionally, today’s awareness of the importance of biodiversity conservation chall- enges every country to list its flora and fauna, including groups with such small repre- sentatives like Elmidae. Jäch et al. (2005) indicated that, unfortunately, the protection of nature is still equalized with protection of vertebrates; in the last 50 years six speci- es of Elmidae and Hydraenidae became extinct in Austria, receiving no or little atten- tion. MATERIAL AND METHODS This list is a result of a literature review, revision of museum collections, implemen- tation of results of environmental impact studies and baseline studies, and various field investigations. The following museum collections were examined: AI: Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Hungary AII: National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herze- govina (closed since 2012): Apfelbeck Collection CNHM: Croatian Natural History Museum, Zagreb, Croatia: Igallffy Beetles Collec- tion (IC), Novak Insects Collection (NC), Redenšek Beetles Collection (RC), Weingärtner Beetles Collection (WC) NMW: Vienna Natural History Museum, Wien, Austria Nat. Croat. Vol. 24(1), 2015 95 Tab.1. Geographical coordinates of family Elmidae findings in Croatia. Site name Latitude Longitude Altitude (m) Butina River, spring area N 43°10’34.20” E 17°24’25.30” 252 Cetina River, Glavaš spring N 43°58’36.00” E 16°25’48.00” 385 Cetina River, Preočki Most N 43°57’59.00” E 16°25’53.00” 370 Cetina River, Crveni Most N 43°58’05.00” E 16°25’53.00” 365 Cetina River, Obrovac Sinjski N 43°40’01.00” E 16°41’04.00” 300 Cetina River, Trilj N 43°36’21.00” E 16°43’46.00” 295 Cetina River, Čikotina Lađa N 43°31’59.00” E 16°44’42.00” 250 Cetina River, Radmanove Mlinice N 43°26’16.00” E 16°45’11.00” 15 Dobra River, Bistrica spring N 45°16’27.00” E 15°17’28.00” 245 Dobra River, spring near Podumol N 45°21’27.30” E 15°18’31.20” 182 Dobra River, Ribnjak spring N 45°20’86.00” E 15°15’57.00” 239 Dobra River, Gojak spring N 45°17’51.20” E 15°16’02.50” 219 Dobra River, spring area of Gojačka Dobra N 45°18’18.00” E 15°16’68.00” 223 Dobra River, sampling site by Bridge Lešće N 45°22’24.56” E 15°21’21.74” 144 Drava River, HP Čakovec, left drainage ditch N 46°18’44.97” E 16°27’59.10” 162 Drava River, HP Čakovec, right drainage ditch, 7.5 km N 46°18’44.63” E 16°22’04.36” 167 upstream from wastewater outlet of Varaždin city Drava River, HP Čakovec, drainage derivation canal N 46°18’52.38” E 16°31’04.30” 155 between engine room and mouth of watercourse Jezerčica Drava River, HP Čakovec, biological minimum in 2.5 km N 46°19’07.79” E 16°34’16.74” 151 before connecting to the drainage derivation canal Drava River, HP Čakovec, accumulation, before recreation N 46°19’08.83” E 16°21’50.99” 166 centre Drava River, HP Dubrava, drainage derivation canal between engine room and 200 m after mouth of drainage N 46°19’11.54” E 16°45’12.91” 133 watercourse Drava River, HP Dubrava, right drainage ditch N 46°19’06.63” E 16°42’44.09” 139 Drava River, HP Dubrava left drainage ditch N 46°19’41.62” E 16°42’58.36” 144 Drava River, biological minimum (before mouth of Plitvice N 46°19’44.00” E 16°44’36.19” 138 Stream) Drava River, HP Varaždin, accumulation N 46°22’53.00” E 16°11’10.54” 184 Drava River, HP Varaždin, drainage derivation ditch N 46°20’47.70” E 16°16’16.90” 141 Jadro River, spring N 43°32’30.30” E 16°31’11.80” 111 Kosovčica River, spring N 43°56’28.00” E 16°15’10.00” 260 Krka NP, Skradinski Buk waterfall N 43°48’11.26” E 15°57’56.29” 41 Krka NP, Roški Slap waterfall N 43°54’20.00” E 15°58’22.00” 55 Ljuta River, spring area N 42°32’11.00” E 18°22’41.00” 70 96 Mi~eti} Stankovi}, V. et al.: Annotated checklist of Croatian riffle beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera: Elmidae) Matica River, Crni Vir N 43°07’09.20” E 17°28’56.90” 24 Matica River, next to the bridge downstream Staševica N 43°08’20.60” E 17°25’46.10” 22 Mirna River N 45°22’43.30” E 13°53’29.2” 20 Norin River, Upper Reach in Vid N 43°04’49.80” E 17°37’4.30” 162 Petrinjčica River N 45°21’7.93” E 16°16’57.57” 148 Plitvice lakes NP, Korana River in Korana Village N 44°55’33.00” E 15°37’09.00” 390 Plitvice lakes NP, Plitvica Stream 50 m upstream big N 44°54’08.00” E 15°36’27.00”