Aquatic Invertebrates
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Scientific Name
About 38 species in Missouri
Description
Crayfish are freshwater aquatic invertebrates that look a lot like small lobsters, to which they are related. There are about 38 species of crayfish in Missouri.
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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.
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Scientific Name
Dugesia, Planaria, and other genera
Description
Unlike their parasitic cousins in the flatworm group, turbellarians, or planarians, are tiny carnivores or detritus-eaters that glide smoothly across submerged leaves and other objects.
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Scientific Name
Faxonius hylas (formerly Orconectes hylas)
Description
The woodland crayfish is stout, reddish tan to dark brown, with numerous blackish specks and blotches on the pincers, carapace, and abdomen. It occurs only in Missouri, especially in the Black River and its tributaries.
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Scientific Name
Faxonius ozarkae (formerly Orconectes ozarkae)
Description
The Ozark crayfish is light brown to reddish brown with numerous black specks on the pincers and often on the abdomen as well. The pincers are broad and powerful. It lives in the White and Black stream systems.
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Scientific Name
Lacunicambarus ludovicianus (syn. Cambarus ludovicianus)
Description
The painted devil crayfish is a burrowing lowland species. In Missouri, it is known from only a few locations in the Bootheel. Its overall color is olive green to blue, with reddish and cream markings.
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Scientific Name
Faxonius medius (formerly Orconectes medius)
Description
The saddleback crayfish has a bold blackish band across the hind margin of the carapace and lacks dark blotches or specks. The pincers are broad and powerful. It occurs in the Big and Meramec river drainages.
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Scientific Name
Orconectes stygocaneyi
Description
One of three species of cave crayfish in Missouri, the Caney Mountain cave crayfish is known from only one location. Like many other cave invertebrates, this species is whitish and is blind.
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Scientific Name
Faxonius eupunctus (formerly Orconectes eupunctus)
Description
The coldwater crayfish has a very localized distribution in the Eleven Point River system. It is stout, with a blue-green head and pincers and dark, rust-brown carapace. It is an imperiled species.
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Scientific Name
Venustaconcha ellipsiformis and V. pleasii
Description
These small mussels use darters, a type of fish, as hosts for their young.
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.