Aquatic Invertebrates
Media
Species Types
Scientific Name
Species in the suborder Anisoptera
Description
Dragonfly larvae are aquatic insects with large eyes, six legs, and an oval or rounded segmented abdomen. The lower jaws are scooplike and cover much of the lower part of the head.
Media
Species Types
Scientific Name
Chauliodes, Neohermes, and Nigronia spp. (in eastern US)
Description
Fishfly larvae look a lot like their cousins the hellgrammites, but they lack cottony or hairy gill tufts along the abdomen, and they have 2 short, fleshy tails at the hind tip.
See Also
About Aquatic Invertebrates in Missouri
Missouri's streams, lakes, and other aquatic habitats hold thousands of kinds of invertebrates — worms, freshwater mussels, snails, crayfish, insects, and other animals without backbones. These creatures are vital links in the aquatic food chain, and their presence and numbers tell us a lot about water quality.