Field Guide

Aquatic Invertebrates

Showing 61 - 70 of 92 results
Media
threeridge
Species Types
Scientific Name
Amblema plicata
Description
Sometimes called the blue-point, this mussel species is widely distributed in Missouri rivers and is occasionally found along reservoir margins.
Media
wabash pigtoe
Species Types
Scientific Name
Fusconaia flava
Description
A widespread mussel that releases its larvae in tiny red packages to attract fish hosts.
Media
wartyback
Species Types
Scientific Name
Quadrula nodulata
Description
This favored habitat of this vulnerable species is large streams or rivers in firm sand and mud. The bumps on the shell may help to anchor it in the river bottom.
Media
Photo of a longpincered crayfish.
Species Types
Scientific Name
Faxonius longidigitus (formerly Orconectes longidigitus)
Description
The longpincered crayfish is large and colorful, with very long, slender, blue-green pincers that are studded with prominent yellowish knobs. It is restricted to the White River basin in the Ozarks.
Media
Photo of a Mammoth Spring crayfish.
Species Types
Scientific Name
Faxonius marchandi (formerly Orconectes marchandi)
Description
The Mammoth Spring crayfish has a very localized distribution: In our state, it lives only in the Warm Fork of Spring River, in Oregon County. It is reddish brown, and its broad, powerful pincers have numerous blackish specks on their basal parts.
Media
elephantear mussel half-buried in a gravel substrate
Species Types
Scientific Name
Elliptio crassidens
Description
Today found only in the Meramec River, the elephantear has been classified as endangered in Missouri and is a candidate for federal endangered status.
Media
pink mucket
Species Types
Scientific Name
Lampsilis abrupta
Description
This endangered native mussel lives in flowing waters of large streams among gravel and cobble.
Media
pond mussel
Species Types
Scientific Name
Bivalve molluscs in order Unionoida
Description
Secretive and seldom seen, freshwater mussels are extraordinarily diverse in Missouri. We have nearly 70 species within our borders. Many are declining, and several are endangered.
Media
Photo of several prosobranch pond snails crawling on a rock.
Species Types
Scientific Name
Over 20 Missouri species in former subclass Prosobranchia
Description
Gilled snails are one of two main groups of aquatic snails in Missouri (the other group is the "lunged" snails). Gilled snails, or prosobranchs, breathe with gills and possess a hard trapdoor-like operculum. They are most common in the Ozarks.
Media
Photo of pulmonate snail crawling on rock
Species Types
Scientific Name
Over 30 Missouri species in former subclass Pulmonata
Description
Pulmonate, or lunged snails breathe via a lunglike pulmonary cavity, and they lack the hard trapdoor-like operculum found in gilled snails. Except for in the Ozarks, pulmonate snails predominate in most of the aquatic regions in our state.
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.