McTavish Tract, Perth - A stream study

Just east of Shakespeare the is a Thames Talbot Land Trust property known as McTavish Tract.  I had the delight of studying the cool water stream that runs through the property.  Officially the stream is known as Steeplehigh Municipal Drain.   I collected benthic (bottom) macro (larger than 500 micrometres) invertebrates (critters without backbones) in order to study the water quality.  It will take some time to identify and analyze the results, but based on what I saw today it is a very healthy crick.

Coltsfoot

So what does it look like in the water?....

dace

Underwater photo of Blackfly, Simuliidae,  larae

Green Frog, Lithobates clamitans

Benthic Families of McTavish Tract (Riffle 1)

126 benthos, 8 families:

114 simuliidae (blackfly)

2 nemouridae (stonfly - distinguished from taeniopterygidae by the observation 2nd tarsal appeared extremly dimished/absent) (tentative ID)

1 taeniopterygidae (distinguished from nemouridae by the observation that the 1st and 2nd tarsal were about the same size) (tentative ID)

2 hypropsychidae (netspinner)

2 chironimidae (midge)

1 tipulidae (crane fly) (tentative ID)

2 tabanidae (horsefly) (tentative ID)
Note: It was very difficult to see the disinguising features of the  nemouridae versus the taeniopterygidae.

Any comments on whether I have these identifications correct are welcome!:

Blackfly larvae, Simuliidae family

Midge, Chironimidae Family

Net-spinning Caddisfly, Hyposychidae family

Net-spinning caddisfly - up close

Hydropsychid larvae  construct their nets in fast flowing water and gener ally on the upper surface or rocks. They use sand, plant material, and small pebbles to form a retreat on which to hide.

What does a  Hydropsychid net look like?

Capture net and retreat of a Hydropsychid larva.

Another netspinning caddisfly

close-up of gills (under abdomen) and anal proleg

cranefly, tipulidae (tentative ID)

Horsefly, Tabanidea family

Horsefly breathing tube

retracted head

Stoneflies.....

nemouridae?

nemouridae?

taeniopterygidae?

The mouth parts are important identifiers for all stonefly (mandible shape and pulp shape in particular)