The Hydradephaga (Coleoptera, Haliplidae, Gyrinidae, and Dytiscidae) fauna of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada: new records, distributions, and faunal composition

The Haliplidae, Gyrinidae, and Dytiscidae (Coleoptera) of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada were surveyed during the years 2006–2007. A total of 2027 individuals from 85 species was collected from 94 different localities, which brings to 87 the number of species recorded for this locality. Among these, Heterosternuta allegheniana (Matta & Wolfe), H. wickhami (Zaitzev), Hydroporus appalachius Sherman, H. gossei Larson & Roughley, H. nigellus Mannerheim, H. puberulus LeConte, Ilybius picipes (Kirby), and I. wasastjernae (C.R. Sahlberg) are reported for the first time in Nova Scotia. The Nearctic component of the fauna is made up of 71 species (81.6%), the Holarctic component of 16 species (18.4%). Most species are characteristic of both the Boreal and Atlantic Maritime Ecozones and have a transcontinental distribution but 19 species (21.8%), which are generally recognized as species with eastern affinities. In an examination of the Hydradephaga of insular portions of Atlantic Canada, it was shown that the island faunas of Cape Breton Island and Prince Edward Island are very similar (87 and 84 species, respectively) despite differences in composition suggesting that more Hydradephaga species have yet to be found on Cape Breton Island.