Freshwater Invertebrate Underwater Pictures, Page 5

This is a close-up underwater view of a stillborn (

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This stillborn Ephemerella subvaria dun is trapped in its shuck.

Stillborn: In fly fishing, a stillborn insect is one which got stuck in its nymphal or pupal shuck during emergence and floats helplessly on the surface instead of flying away. It is a specific class of cripple, although it is sometimes used interchangeably with that term.) Ephemerella subvaria (Henrickson) female dun.

In this picture: Mayfly Species Ephemerella subvaria (Hendrickson).

There's a stonefly nymph in the bottom right corner of this picture, but what's really interesting is those white blotches. They're pretty common in my Wisconsin home river river, stuck flat onto the rocks--lots of rocks have a speckled look as a result. They are microcaddis cases, made by larvae of the caddisfly family Hydroptilidae. These are made by larvae of the subfamily Leucotrichiinae, most likely the genus Leucotrichia. They spin little flat oval cases of silk tight and immobile against the rocks.

In this picture: Caddisfly Species Leucotrichia pictipes (Ring Horn Microcaddis).

The strange tubes all over this rock house tiny midge larvae.

In this picture: Insect Order Trichoptera (Caddisflies), Insect Order Ephemeroptera (Mayflies), and True Fly Family Chironomidae (Midges).

Here's the surface of the river viewed from below during a Tricorythodes spinner fall. Several dead spinners are visible.

In this picture: Mayfly Genus Tricorythodes (Tricos).

Several fast-swimming Siphlonurus nymphs blend in very well with the silt in this slow backwater along a trout stream.

In this picture: Mayfly Genus Siphlonurus (Gray Drakes).

Several well-camouflaged Ephemerella mayfly nymphs cling to this log, and a few cased caddisfly larvae cling to the plant in front of it.

In this picture: Insect Order Trichoptera (Caddisflies) and Mayfly Genus Ephemerella (Hendricksons, Sulphurs, PMDs).

I spotted this very large leech freely tumbling, and occasionally stopping, along the bottom of a clear, cool trout stream. I paid careful attention later and spotted two more like it, but this one was the largest -- probably over 7 inches stretched out.

There is one other picture of it.

In this picture: Animal Class Clitellata-Hirudinae (Leeches).