Aquatic Insects & Other Small Inverts in Natural Waters & the Aquarium

Invertebrates are all around us. They make up approximately 95% of all animals on the earth. Some of the more well known invertebrates are insects, crustaceans and marine inverts like starfish and sea urchins.

There are also many different types of freshwater invertebrates. Some are permanently aquatic and some only live in the water for a part of their lives.

My intent in these pages is to provide useful and easily understandable information on the most commonly seen fresh water invertebrates. The General Information page is a good place to start if you aren't familiar with the animals or are interested in learning a little more. In that page I've also included brief taxonomical information and how I have organized the Fresh Water Invertebrate Pages.

For specific information about different animals you can go right to the animals page, listed below. For more information about fresh water invertebrates check out the books listed in the Bibliography and other web pages in the Links page.

Contents General Information Hydra and Moss Animals Hydra Moss Animals Worms, Leeches and Planaria Leeches Planaria Tubifex Worms Arthropods Crustaceans Small Crustaceans Cyclops Daphnia Gammarus Shrimp Crayfish Insects True Bugs Back Swimmers Giant Water Bugs Water Boatman Water Scorpion Water Skaters Beetles Flies Black Flies Crane Flies Gnats Horse Flies Hover Flies Midges Mosquitoes Dragonflies and Other Flying Insects Mollusks Snails Pulmonate Snails Gilled Snails Malayan Livebearing Ramshorn Snails Clams Bibliography Links to other pages

For More Information Try These Books From: Amazon.com Pond Life Aquatic Entomology Gd to Common Freshwater Invertebrates