Ephydridae Zetterstedt, 1837

The Ephydridae (shore flies) are small to medium-sized (body length 1.0-11.0 mm) cyclorrhaphous Brachycera, usually shining black or covered with greyish or brownish microtomentum, face variable in form, almost flat, arched, or distinctly prominent, in Ephydrini and Scatellini covered with setae, costa with two distinct breaks, discal and second basal cells united, anal cell and anal vein absent, wings entirely hyaline or with white or brown spots. Adults usually occur in close association with moist substrates, but a few species inhabit xerothermic grasslands. Most larvae are aquatic or semiaquatic, but some are adapted to very inhospitable habitats such as alkaline or highly saline waters, hot springs or crude oil pools, whilst others develop in decomposing matter or are leaf miners or parasitoids; adults and larvae of Ochthera are predators.

About 1800 shore fly species have been described worldwide (Mathis & Zatwarnicki 1995), with 337 species in Europe (Zatwarnicki 2007). Altogether 147 species are listed in the present checklist: 139 are currently known from the Czech Republic (121 from Bohemia, 108 from Moravia), and 101 are known from Slovakia. Compared with the PCV2 (Zatwarnicki 1997), 27 species have been added to the fauna of the Czech Republic (31 and 39 to the fauna of Bohemia and Moravia, respectively) and 18 to the fauna of Slovakia. On the other hand, 12 species have been removed (12 and 7 from the lists from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, respectively) because their presence in the PCV2 was based on doubtful records or unpublished findings (for details see  Kubátová-Hiršová 2006). So far as shore fly faunistics are concerned, the Czech Republic is one of the best investigated countries in Europe, although a few dozen further species are expected to be found. The shore fly fauna of Slovakia is much less known. The new recods of Czech and Slovak shore flies have not been included in Fauna Europea yet (Zatwarnicki 2007).

The only monograph dealing with the Central European species is the unpublished doctoral thesis compiled by Kubátová-Hiršová (2003). In addition, there are several keys for the identification of the shore fly species of Central Europe but they only deal with the fauna of individual countries. They need to be used with caution and in conjunction with other revisions because of recent taxonomic changes and additions to the fauna (Canzoneri & Meneghini 1983, Nartshuk 1970, Papp 1975). The most recent diagnostic key was by Mathis and Zatwarnicki (1998), dealing with the entire Palaearctic shore fly fauna, but it is restricted to genus level only.  The nomenclature used in the present checklist follows the Fauna Europaea (Zatwarnicki 2007).