International Journal of Scientific Research in Environmental Sciences, 2(10), pp.

361-370, 2014
Available online at http://www.ijsrpub.com/ijsres
ISSN: 2322-4983; 2014 IJSRPUB
http://dx.doi.org/10.12983/ijsres-2014-p0361-0370


361
Full Length Research Paper

Mayflies (Order Ephemeroptera): An Effective Indicator of Water Bodies Conditions
in Jordan

Ikhlas Alhejoj
1
*, Elias Salameh
1
, Klaus Bandel
2


1
Department of Applied Geology, University of Jordan, 11942, Amman, Jordan
2
Geologisch-Palontologisches Institut und Museum Hamburg, Universitt Hamburg, D-20146 Hamburg, Germany
*Corresponding Author: ekl_hjouj@yahoo.com

Received 20 June 2014; Accepted 22 August 2014

Abstract. In this article, the quality of running and standing water in Jordan is evaluated using mayflies (order Ephemeroptera)
as biological indicators species. From March 2011 to April 2013, mayfly larvae were collected, from the study area that covers
streams pouring into the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea. Six species were determined and distinguished from each other
including Baetis monnerati, Baetis Sp, Nigrobaetis vuatazi, Cloeon gr simile, Caenis antoninae, Caenis sp. The results of
this study showed that the Bestisdes group is commonly associated with Caenidae larvae in running freshwater bodies.
Regarding their indicator values, Baetis monnerati as an indicator of clean to moderately polluted water and tolerance to saline
water. Baetis Sp occur in clean freshwater but it is so rare that their values indicator in Jordan is low. Caenidae sp can tolerate
some household pollutants while Caenis antoninae is a good indicator for standing to slow flowing clean to weakly polluted
water. Cloeon gr simile could tolerate salty water and can be considered as a good indicator of unpolluted saline water. Only
one species Nigrobaetis vuatazi was found to tolerate mineral water, with high Sr
2+
and Br
-
concentrations. In Jordan, species
of Baetidae family show more tolerance to pollution than Caenidae family. Aquatic mayfly fauna are absent in eutrophic and
thermal water bodies. The study concluded that mayfly fauna are qualified bio-indicators for water quality monitoring.

Keywords: Mayfly, bioindicators, water quality, Jordan, aquatic bodies.

1. INTRODUCTION

Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) are a globally distributed
group of insects, with the highest diversity in tropical
areas and over 3000 world-wide known species
(Barber - James et al., 2008). Mayflies occur
commonly in Jordan and their larvae are found in
almost all types of running and standing freshwater
ecosystems as well as in brackish water.
Macro-invertebrates are widely applied as
indicator to the recognition of water quality and are
considered to represent the best biological indicators
of water quality. They have been utilized as ideal
organisms for biological monitoring studies
(Rosenberg and Resh, 1993; Barbour et al., 1996;
Hering et al., 2004).
The idea to use animals, predominantly macro-
invertebrates as biological indicators to assess water
quality in Jordan was first proposed in 1981 by
Bandel and Salameh in a study dealing with creeks,
rivers and springs in the Amman-Zarqa area
A number of authors selected the larvae of
mayflies as aquatic bio-indicators and found them to
reflect very well the quality of the water in which they
are found living and to indicate the environmental
conditions (Kolkwitz and Marsson, 1902;
Czachorowski et al., 1993; Landa and Soldn 1995;
Soldn et al., 1999). In the present work mayfly larvae
were sampled to study their bio-indicator value in bio-
monitoring technique of water quality based on their
occurrences in different environmental conditions.
The advantage of using mayfly nymphs as an
indicator to the quality of the water they live in are
based on the circumstance that they are found in
almost all aquatic environments including those of
freshwater as well as those of brackish water. They
also occur in waters of quite different ecological
conditions such as treated waste water. Also the
development of mayfly larva is relatively long, and
depending on the species involved may last from
weeks up to a few years. Thus their presence can
record long term environmental effects (Landa 1968;
Hynes, 1970). The morphology and structure of their
body in general, usually depends on the ecological
conditions. Harker (1989), for example, he stated that
the gills of mayflies that live in standing water are
larger than those which live in flowing water. This is
due to the circumstance that gills with large surface
Alhejoj et al.
Mayflies (Order Ephemeroptera): An Effective Indicator of Water Bodies Conditions in Jordan
362
area permit the larva to extract oxygen more readily
from the water than those larvae which have a smaller
gill.
Mayfly larvae feed on detritus and are thus highly
sensitive to changes in the substrate and to any toxic
material entering the water (Landa and Soldn, 1995).
Mayflies produce many eggs and the rate of egg
growth is usually affected by biotic and abiotic
factors, and indicates the ecological conditions (Landa
and Soldn, 1991). Most of mayfly larvae have very
narrow requirements regarding their tolerance to
dissolved oxygen, pH, type of substrate, size and
currents of the stream, and temperature of the water.
These requirements result in their reaction to
eutrophication, sedimentation, nutrient loading,
chemical pollution in general, and other
anthropogenic impacts on the quality of the water
(Brittain, 1982; Hickey and Clements, 1998; Kjer,
2004; Menetrey et al., 2005; Bryce et al., 2010). In
case these factors or part of them are known they are
very useful for the interpretation of changes in these
factors. Mayflie larvae are primarily used in all biotic
index systems (e.g., Family Biotic Index system and
EPT).
Thus mayflies have varied tolerance levels to
pollution (Lewis, 1974), but generally are considered
intolerant organisms and require water with good
conditions to survive (Roback, 1974). Pontasch and
Cairns (1991) noted toxic tolerance level of mayflies
together with that of other aquatic organisms and
confirmed that mayflies proved to be the most
sensitive to the influence of toxic material in
comparison to others such as frogs etc.
Within the different taxa of mayflies there are also
differences. In the so called Family Biotic Index
(FBI), Hilsenhoff (1988) noted that members of the
family Caenidae have species that can be
differentiated according to seven tolerance degrees.
Their presence is usually an indicator of relatively
organic polluted water. In the same indicator system,
in contrast, members of the family Baetidae can be
used to distinguish only four degrees of tolerance, and
thus display a wider range of ecological tolerance
levels. Brittain (1982) thus found out that the
members of the family Baetidae inhabited water with
different qualities and that the species belong to this
family have the ability to survive also in an
environment with moderately low oxygen
concentration and high water temperatures. For
instance species of the genus Baetis (Baetidae) are
often used as indicators of poor quality water.
The aim of the present study is to correlate the
occurrences of mayfly larvae in springs, creeks/rivers
and ponds with the quality of the water in which they
live and to put into relation the abundance of certain
species with various parameters of water quality, thus
relate chemical and physical parameters with
biological ones.

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1. Study area

The study was carried out on creeks and rivers in the
area extending from Zarqa River in the north to Mujib
River in the south. Mayflies were collected from 18
sites along 7 localities, mostly consisting of running
water. The running water originates in the highlands
in the East and flows down to the low lands below sea
level in the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea area.
Zarqa River flows along the northern part of the study
area in E-W course. In the Jordan Valley area it flows
to the southwest to join the Jordan River. To the south
of its flow course in the Jordan Valley Karama dam
was built in 1995, where water partly originating from
Zarqa River is stored.
Wadi Shueib from Es Salt downstream to Shueib
dam, Wadi Hisban with several springs, Wadi Shita
spring and creek as well as Wadi Sir feeding in the
downstream area Kafrian Reservoir and the small
creek of Wadi Atun that ends in the Dead Sea as well
as the larger River Mujib at Wadi Mujib in the south
(Fig. 1).

International Journal of Scientific Research in Environmental Sciences, 2(10), pp. 361-370, 2014
363

Fig. 1: The study area covers wadis pouring into the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea, extending from Zarqa River in the north
through Karama reservoir-area, Wadi Shueib, Wadi Shita, Wadi Hibsan, and Wadi Atun to Wadi Mujib in the south

2.2. Sampling

The method applied here aims at using mayflies in
evaluating the quality of the different surface water
resources in the study area. This is done by assessing
the survival of the different mayfly species in surface
water bodies in relation to selected physical characters
such as water temperature, pH (acidity) and
conductivity. These were measured in the field and
chemical data was measured in the laboratory such as
contents of nitrate, phosphate, hardness of water
(calcium, magnesium and total hardness), trace
elements (e, g. copper, iron, zinc, boron), BOD
(biological oxygen demand), and COD (chemical
oxygen demand).
Mayfly larvae were collected and documented by
photos during the late winter to early spring (between
March and April from 2011 to 2013). Mayflies were
usually collected using a sieve of 500 m and
sometimes also a coarser net was applied for
sampling. For collecting the larvae aquatic plants and
rocks were washed in the screen. Those aquatic
animals that cling to rocks, boulders, aquatic plants
and often found under the rocks were collected by
brushing them with the hand or with a fine brush.
Mayfly larvae were handled with such care and held
in sufficient amounts of fresh water collected from the
site that they were not damaged when carried to the
laboratory. They were extracted from the water by
special forceps or by pipette and studied in the
laboratory under light microscope. This S6 D Leica
stereomicroscope with magnification of 6.3x - 40x is
connected to a digital camera and thus the larvae
could be documented. To calm them to slower
movement some alcohol was added to the samples.
Also the freshly collected mayflies were preserved
Alhejoj et al.
Mayflies (Order Ephemeroptera): An Effective Indicator of Water Bodies Conditions in Jordan
364
with 70% alcohol right in the field to enable skeletal
characters to be documented and described in detail
and to preserve their skeletal characters and to isolate
and determine them, according to their place in the
taxonomic system as far as possible.
Mayflies determination of species and description
of their cycle of life from egg to adult is difficult since
larvae change their skeleton during growth and that
may happen up to 20 times only during growth of the
larva in the water. These larvae may differ, not only in
size, but also in shape, from each other during growth
and at different growth stages. It is thus quite difficult
to distinguish different species from each other based
on different growth stages.
Determinations were carried out by Gattolliat,
Museum of Zoology (Switzerland), from material
collected by us in the field and send to him. The
aquatic larvae of mayflies were sampled both in
freshwater as well as in brackish water habitats from
all locations in the study area.




Table 1: Chemical and physical analyses of surface water samples from selected area

International Journal of Scientific Research in Environmental Sciences, 2(10), pp. 361-370, 2014
365
Table 2: Chemical analyses of the studied surface water (for locations refer to Table 1)


3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Mayfly larvae are common and occur everywhere in
bodies of water, from fresh to brackish water, still to
fast water flows, and clean to relatively organically
polluted water. Aquatic mayflies were sampled to
establish their salinity, pollution and trace elements
tolerance based on their occurrence in a certain
environments from freshwater and brackish water
habitats throughout the study locations. They can be
seen by naked eyes and show different forms with a
variety of morphological features. Typically, they are
describing not only the water quality but also reflect
their habitat conditions In Jordan freshwater bodies
have usually less than 2000 S/cm conductivity. Some
lightly salty water ranges from around 2000 to 3000
S/cm and brackish water could range from 4000 to
10000 S/cm, and saline water have conductivities of
more than 10000 S/cm. In this study chemical and
physical analyses were measured in the field and
laboratory (Tables 1, 2& 3) and then correlated with
occurrence of mayfly insects in the studied water
bodies.
Mayfly fauna of the Arabian Peninsula have been
the subject of important studies, with several, at least
ten families, studied and documented including
Baetidae, Caenidae, Ephemerellidae, Heptageniidae,
Leptophlebiidae, Oligoneuriidae, Palingeniidae,
Potamanthidae and Prosopistomatidae. (Samocha,
1972; Demoulin, 1973; Koch, 1988; Sartori, 1992;
Marie et al., 2000, 2001; Barber- James et al., 2008).
Few studies were carried out on the identification of
mayfly species in Jordan (Malzacher, 1992; Gattolliat
et al., 2012).
Malzacher (1992) described mayfly species in
Israel and some also from Jordan, while recently
Gattolliat, Vuataz and Sartori (2012) started to
describe mayflies from Jordan and reported different
species belonging to Baetidae and Caenidae families
which live in the central parts of Jordan.
Mayfly taxonomy in general, is still in progress
and numerous unknown species and genera await
description, as is also the case in Jordan. Mayfly fauna
of different species are present in Jordan, but as
mentioned before, their larvae change their skeletons
up to 20 times during growth. These larvae may differ
not only in size, but also in shape during growth, and
it will be difficult to distinguish different species of
different growth stages for non-specialist so that the
determination of sampled mayfly larvae in the present
work was done by Gattolliat (2013).
Alhejoj et al.
Mayflies (Order Ephemeroptera): An Effective Indicator of Water Bodies Conditions in Jordan
366

Fig. 2: Examples of common mayfly larvae species collected from the study area and documented by S6 D Leica
stereomicroscope; A) Baetis monnerati from Wadi Hisaban(Location 2), B) Baetis Sp (the larva has two long caudal filament
without terminal filament from Hisban location 1 ); C. Nigrobaetis vuatazi (Wadi Atun 1); D. Cloeon gr simile from Karama
area (Location 3) ; E. Caenis antonina appear with flattened shape, long three tails and square plate like gills shaped from
Wadi Hisban (Location 2); F. Caenis Sp has distinct square plate like gills from Wadi Shueib (Location 3).

Larvae of Baetidae species are the most
common family distributed in different water
conditions and usually associated with Caenidae
larvae in running freshwater bodies. Species of
Baetidae family show a moderate tolerance
degree to pollution and often are found in very
clean water to moderately polluted water (e.g.,
Baetis monnerati), so their presence is usually an
indicator of relatively very clean to moderately
polluted water.
Baetidae are represented here by four species
found in still and running fresh to saline water
and are heavily present in Jordanian streams e.g.,
Wadi Hisban ( Location 1&2), Wadi Shita, Wadi
Shueib (Location 1,2&3), Zarqa River and Wadi
Mujib (Location 2) with very clean and
moderately polluted water (Fig 2A). This species
can tolerate a degree of salinity of about 16000
S/cm which is found together with Cloeon gr
simile in the same environment in Karama Lake
(Location 2).

International Journal of Scientific Research in Environmental Sciences, 2(10), pp. 361-370, 2014
367
Table 3: Chemical analysis of trace elements from study area for locations refer to Table 1)


Large population of Baetis monnerati appear in
Zarqa River downstream near Deir Alla area where
the quality of treated wastewater from As Samra
wastewater treatment plant has improved by self-
purification process along the Zarqa River course
(distance As Samra treatment plant to Deir Alla about
80km) but there are still many nutrients in the water
which support the growth of rich phytoplankton and
the mud that may settle in quiet puddles on the side
turns black just below the surface, and the lower sides
of stones is black.
Baetis Sp with distinct two tails are confined to
running waterways with high water quality which is
only found at one location in Wadi Hisban (Location
1) (Fig 2B). This species cannot be used for pollution
assessment because it occurs rarely in Jordanian
waters. Nigrobaetis vuatazi are also members of this
family and occur in mineral water (Wadi Atun
location 1&2). This species can survive and live in
running water with relatively high concentration of
Sr
2+
(reaching about 37 ppm) and Br
-
concentration
(10 ppm). Regarding the salinity, species of Baetidae
are tolerant to saline water and can be found in
slightly salty moving water to saline still water
conditions. For example Nigrobaetis vuatazi (Fig 2C)
may live in slightly salty water (2000 S/cm) in Wadi
Atun stream while Cloeon gr simile (Fig 2D) occur in
still water with salinities reaching about 16000 S/cm.
Cloeon gr simile indicates saline still water
conditions.
A number of Caenidae family species is usually
present in freshwater water bodies and show low
tolerance to pollution than Baetidae family. Caenidae
group generally indicates very clean or weakly
polluted water qualities depending on the species.
Caenis antoninae (Fig 2E) inhabits very clean
quiet water bodies. They can be used as an indicator
of high water quality and still freshwater
environments. Large numbers of Caenidae sp are
found in Wadi Shueib stream (Upstream of Es Salt
treatment plant, Wadi Shueib location 1&2) (Fig 2F).
They tolerate some degree of household sewage added
to streams, but, it is still good water quality. Their
habitat is turbid running water from moderate to swift
current with high occurrences of aquatic vegetation
and generally with large rocks and gravel bottom
substrate. Aquatic mayfly in Jordan can't live in
heavily polluted water for example they totally
disappeared from the water after mixing with the
treated wastewater from Salt treatment plant while
pollution tolerant fauna are heavily present, such as
tubifex worm and chironomids.
Alhejoj et al.
Mayflies (Order Ephemeroptera): An Effective Indicator of Water Bodies Conditions in Jordan
368
Eutrophication (nutrient enrichment) problems
of Wadi Mujib (Location 1) and King Talal dam on
Zarqa River has negative impacts on the
eutrophication intolerant organisms because they can't
live and survive under poor water conditions with low
dissolved oxygen. The absence of mayfly insects from
such environment indicates poor water quality.

4. CONCLUSION

From chemical, physical and biological analyses of
the studied water bodies with different environmental
conditions it is concluded that mayies are good
candidates to be used as bio-indicators of water
quality and environmental conditions of surface water
bodies, for several reasons that can be summarized as
follows;
They are abundant in springs, creeks/rivers and
ponds and easy to recognized and collect. In addition,
mayfly larvae show rapid response to change in their
environmental conditions. The presence or absence of
aquatic mayfly insects can provide important clues
about the environmental conditions. Particularly,
aquatic Mayflies in Jordan show moderate pollution
tolerant and are absent from heavily polluted water
bodies which are not found together with pollution
tolerance organisms (e.g., Tubifex worm and
chironomids) such as Zarqa River, Wadi Shueib and
Wadi Sir Streams (downstream of treatment plants).
This organisms are also absent in high salty waters
such as Karama dam with salinities reach 23.000
S/cm. Mayfly larvae are also totally absent from
eutrpohic environment and thermal spring such as
Zara and Abu Thabelh springs.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to our collaborator Prof. Jean-
Luc Gattolliat, Museum of Zoology (Switzerland), for
their help in the Ephemeroptera identifications. This
study financially supported by the Federal Ministry of
Education and Research (BMBF) and the SMART II
project (Sustainable Managment of Available Water
Resources with Innovative Technology) and Prof. Dr.
Heinz Hoetzl, University of Karlsruhe, and we want to
thank all these persons and institutions for that
support.

REFERENCES

Barber-James HM, Gattoliat J-L, Sartori M, Hubbard
MD (2008). Global diversity of mayflies
(Ephemeroptera, Insecta). Hydrobiologia,
595:339 -350.
Barbour, MT, Gerritsen J, Griffith G.E, Frydenborg R,
McCarron E, White J.S,
Bastian M.L (1996b). A framework for biological
criteria for Florida streams using benthic
macroinvertebrates. Journal of the North
American Benthological Society, 15(2): 185-
211.
Brittain JE (1982). Biology of Mayflies Annual
Review of Entomology 27, pp 119-147.
Bryce SA, Lomnicky GA, Kaufmann PR (2010).
Protecting sediment-sensitive aquatic species in
mountain streams through the application of
biologically based stream be Roback, S.S.
1974. Chapter 10: Insects (Anhropoda: Insecta).
In Pollution Ecology of Freshwater
Invertebrates, ed. C.W. Hart Jr. and S.L.H.
Fuller, 313-376. New York: Academic Press,
377 pp. d sediment criteria. Journal of the North
American Benthological Society, 29(2): 657-
672.
Czachorowski S, Lewandowski K, Wasilewska A
(1993). The importance of aquatic insects for
landscape integration in the catchment area of
the River Gizela (Masurian Lake District,
northeastern Poland). Archiv fr
Hydrobiologie, 35(1):49-64
Demoulin G (1973). Contribution a l'tude des
Ephemeropteres D'Israel introduction et 1.
Heptageniidae. Bull. Inst. roy Sci. Nat. Belg.,
49: 1-19.
Edmunds Jr, GF (1984). Ephemeroptera. In An
Introduction to the aquatic insects. Merrit and
Cummins (eds). 94-125 pags.
Gattolliat JL (2013). Museum of Zoology. Lausanne,
Switzerland: Personal connection.
Gattolliat JL, Vuataz L, Sartori M (2012). First
contribution to the mayflies of Jordan (Insecta:
Ephemeroptera). // Zoology in the Middle East
56: 91110.
Soldn T, Landa V, Zahrdkov S (1999). Long-term
changes of diversity of mayflies
(Ephemeroptera) in the Kremeln river basin
(umava Mts., Czech Republic). Silva Gabreta,
3: 95-114
Roldan G (1988). Study Guide to Aquatic
Macroinvertebrates. Department of Antioquia.
Fund for Environmental Protection. Bogota,
Colombia. 217 pp.
Roback SS (1974). Chapter 10: Insects (Anhropoda:
Insecta). In Pollution Ecology of Freshwater
Invertebrates, ed. C.W. Hart Jr. and S.L.H.
Fuller, 313-376. New York: Academic Press,
377 pp.
Rosenberg DM, Resh VH (eds.) (1993). Freshwater
Biomonitoring and Benthic Macroinvertebrates.
Chapman & Hall, New York. ISBN: 0-412-
02251-6. x, 488pp.
International Journal of Scientific Research in Environmental Sciences, 2(10), pp. 361-370, 2014
369
Pontasch KW, Cairns J (1991). Multispecies toxicity
tests using indigenous organisms: Predicting the
effects of complex effluents in streams. Arch
Environ Contam Toxicol, 20: 103-112.
Malzacher P (1992). Mayflies from Israel (Insecta,
Ephemeroptera) II. - Caenidae. // Mitteilungen
der schweizerischen entomologischen
Gesellschaft, 65(3-4): 385-394.
Marie V, Dia A, Thomas A (2000). Complments et
corrections la faune des Ephmroptres du
Proche-Orient. 3. Serratella bauernfeindi n.sp.
du Liban: description comparativement S.
mesoleuca (BRAUER, 1857) et cologie
(Ephemeroptera, Ephemerellidae). Ephemera
1 [1999]: 93-103.
Marie V, Dia A, Thomas A (2001). Complments et
corrections la faune des Ephmroptres du
Proche-Orient. 4. Caenis carloi n.sp. du Liban:
description et cologie (Ephemeroptera,
Caenidae). Ephemera 2, 2000: 15-23.
Menetrey N, Sager L, Oertli B, Lachavanne JB
(2005). Looking for metrics to assess the
trophic state of ponds. Macroinvertebrates and
amphibians. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and
Freshwater Ecosystems, 15: 653664.
Landa V, Soldn T (1991). The possibilities of mayfly
faunistics to indicate environmental changes of
large areas. Pages 559-565 in Alba-Tercedor J;
Snchez-Ortega A. Overview and strategies of
Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera. Sandhill Crane
Press, Gainesville, Florida.
Landa V (1968). Developmental cycles of Central
European Ephemeroptera and their
interrelations. Acta Entomologica
Bohemoslovaca, 65(4): 276-284.
Landa V, Soldn T (1995). Mayflies as bioindicators
of water quality and environmental change on a
regional and global scale. Pages 21-29 in
Corkum LD; Ciborowski JJH. Current
Directions in Research on Ephemeroptera.
Canadian Scholars' Press, Inc. Toronto.
Lewis PA (1974). Taxonomy and Ecology of
Stenonema mayflies (Heptageniidae:
Ephemeroptera). National Environmental
Research Center Office of Research and
Development. USEPA. Cincinnati, Ohio. EP-
670/4-74-006. 80 p.
Harker J.E (1989). Mayflies (Naturalists' Handbooks
No13). Richmond Publishing Co. Ltd.,
England.
Heringering D, Moog O, SANDIN L, Verdonschot P.
F. M (2004). Overview and application of the
AQEM assessment sys- tem. Hydrobiologia
516: 120.
Hynes HBN (1970). The ecology of running
waters.liverpool: liverpool university press.
Hilsenhoff WL (1988). Rapid field assessment of
organic pollution with a family-level biotic
index. J. N. Am. Benthol. Soc., 7(1): 65-68.
Hickey CW, Clements WH (1998). Effects of heavy
metals on benthic macroinvertebrate
communities in NewZealand streams.
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 17:
23382346
Koch S (1988). Mayflies of the Northern Levant
(Insecta: Ephemeroptera) Zoology in the
Middle East, 2: 89-112.
Kolkwitz R, Marsson M (1902). Grundstze fuer die
biologische Beurteilung des Wassers nach
seiner Flora und Fauna Mitt. Aus d. Kgl.
Pruefungsanstalt fuer Wasserversorgung u.
Abwasserbesei- tigung Berlin, 1: 3372.
Kjer KM (2004). Aligned 18S and insect phylogeny.
Systematic Biology, 53(3):506-514.
Samocha M (1972). Ephemeroptera of Israel. M. Sc.
thesis, Tel Aviv University, 112 pp.
Sartori M (1992). Mayflies from Israel (Insecta:
Ephemeroptera) I. - Heptageniidae,
Ephemerellidae, Leptophlebiidae and
Palangeniidae. Revue suisse de Zool., 99: 835-
858.
Soldn T, Landa V (1995). Aquatic insects
(Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera):
a comparison from the bioindication point of
view. In: Boh J., Tska J. & Tich R. (eds)
8th International Bioindicatoirs Symposium,
98.
Williams DD, Feltmate BW (1992). Aquatic Insects.
CAB International. ISBN: 0-85198-782-6. xiii,
358p.

Alhejoj et al.
Mayflies (Order Ephemeroptera): An Effective Indicator of Water Bodies Conditions in Jordan
370



Dr. Ikhlas Alhejoj received her Ph.D. degree from Karlsruhe University (KIT)/Germany. She is
currently a lecturer at Department of Geology, University of Jordan. Her research is focuses on
macro-organisms as bio-indicators of environmental conditions and water quality of Jordan. She
also interests in macro-fossils in the Pliocene- Pleistocene deposits of Jordan and deformed
fossils and related structures as paleo-stress indicators in Jordan. To date, she has published
several scientific articles and books related to Jordanian fossils and biological environmental
indicators field.









Prof. Dr. Elias Salameh professor of hydrogeology and hydrochemistry at the University of
Jordan. From 1975 to1980 assistant professor, from 1980 to1985 associate professor and since
1985 full professor. He obtained his Ph.D. degree (Dr. rer. nat.) from Technical University of
Munich / Germany in Hydrogeology and Hydrochemistry. Prof. Dr. Elias Salameh research has
focused on Hydrochemical and Hydrobiological Pollution of the Waters of the Amman Zerqa
Area, Artificial groundwater recharge, Effects of climatic changes on surface and ground water,
and other research in the water subject.







Prof. Dr. Klaus Bandel, professor of Historical Geology and Paleontology in Hamburg
University. His specialty is Paleontology of Invertebrates and especially that of molluscs
among the invertebrates, their geological history, evolution, ecology and modern relatives from
the late Cambrian to the recent. Another special field of his interest and research in the
geologic history of Jordan and the characterization of its environments from Cambrian to
recent, lately especially regarding the last million of years leading to the modern flora and fauna
living in Jordan on land and in the Gulf of Aqaba.