Aquatic Invertabrates

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The Aquatic Invertebrates Group is composed of Sula, Carlos, and Joseph. This group is responsible for collecting and classifying invertebrates found in Sheldon Lake. Their task is to provide information on the water quality by testing the population of each species. After collecting the invertebrates, they are preserved in alcohol jars.

This group looks at the different key sites and the aquatic invertebrates that Sheldon Reservoir has. The procedure that the class takes in order to classify the aquatic invertebrates is that we: get water and detritus from the different sites that are collected by Kathy and Brent; then we grab a hand full of the soil and spray water on it so that the invertabrates can come right off; once we view the species, we get a key chart and identify them under a microscope; the last step is to record the numeber and kinds of species found at each site. The left over detritus is put into a ziplock bag to record the dry weight.

These are the recordings below:

The North Stream Bank (2/21/06)

Species	Pollution Intolerant (PI)	Moderately Pollution Intolerant G.2 (MPI)	Moderately Tolerant of Pollution G.3 (MTP)	Very Tolerant of Pollution G.4 (VTP)
Scuds	N/A	10	N/A	N/A
Mayflies	6	N/A	N/A	N/A
Cadisflies	1	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pouch Snails	N/A	N/A	N/A	1
Mites	N/A	N/A	1	N/A
Diving Beetles	9	N/A	N/A	N/A
Predacious Diving Beetles	16	N/A	N/A	N/A
Snails	N/A	N/A	N/A	4
Craw Fish	3	N/A	N/A	N/A
Fish	2	N/A	N/A	N/A
Giant Water Bugs	N/A	1	N/A	N/A
Round Worm	N/A	N/A	2	N/A
Clams	3	N/A	N/A	N/A
Beetles	20	N/A	N/A	N/A
Backswimmer	1	N/A	N/A	N/A
Damselflies Larva	N/A	N/A	1	N/A
Horsehair Worms	N/A	N/A	N/A	1

This shows us that the water quality of the North Stream Bank at Sheldon Lake is well-preserved and is clean enough to sustain pollution-intolerant aquatic invertebrates.

The South Boat Ramp (2/22/06)

Species	Pollution Intolerant (PI)	Moderately Pollution Intolerant G.2 (MPI)	Moderately Tolerant of Pollution G.3 (MTP)	Very Tolerant of Pollution G.4 (VTP)
Cray Fish	2	N/A	N/A	N/A
Tubifex Worms	N/A	N/A	9	N/A
Nematodes	N/A	N/A	N/A	8
Water Studer	4	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pouch Snails	N/A	N/A	N/A	1
Red Midge Larva	N/A	N/A	1	N/A
Mayflies	4	N/A	N/A	N/A
Midges	N/A	N/A	1	N/A
Scuds	N/A	3	N/A	N/A
Horse Worms	N/A	N/A	N/A	2
Predacious Water Beetles	3	N/A	N/A	N/A

This shows us that the water quality of the South Boat Ramp at Sheldon Lake is more polluted compared to the North Stream Bank. It is able to sustain a higher population of moderately pollution-intolerant aquatic invertebrates, like water mites and nematodes. We need to find the sources that are creating this pollution so that we can help the rest of the population grow for the advancement of productive species.

The Inlet (2/22/06)

Species	Pollution Intolerant (PI)	Moderately Pollution Intolerant G.2 (MPI)	Moderately Tolerant of Pollution G.3 (MTP)	Very Tolerant of Pollution G.4 (VTP)
Crayfish	4	N/A	N/A	N/A
Soldier Fly Larvae	N/A	N/A	5	N/A
Predacious Diving Beetle	42	N/A	N/A	N/A
Nematode	N/A	N/A	N/A	6
Aquatic Sowbugs	1	N/A	N/A	N/A
Water Mites	N/A	N/A	1	N/A
Horse Worms	4	N/A	N/A	1
Scuds	N/A	4	N/A	N/A
Red Headed Bettle (black)	9	N/A	N/A	N/A
Riffle Beetle Larvae	5	N/A	N/A	N/A
Whirling Beetle	1	N/A	N/A	N/A
Backswimmers	7	N/A	N/A	N/A

The Inlet is the best site that helped out the food chain of the species because a lot more pollution- intolerant aquatic invertebrates, like predacious water beetles, were found due to its non- polluted water. Oxygen got through to feed the species and the Ph levels were better than the previous ones.