Aquatic Invertebrates
Media
![Photo of a bristly cave crayfish, viewed from the side.](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2015/07/bristly_cave_crayfish_side_7-21-15.jpg?itok=SS_LqIhI)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Cambarus setosus
Description
The bristly cave crayfish is a whitish crayfish with small, unpigmented eyes and long, slender pincers with noticeable setae (bristles). It lives in caves in the Springfield Plateau region of the Ozarks.
Media
![Photo of a Caney Mountain cave crayfish out of water on a wet, red-coated cave rock.](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/field-guide/Caney_Mountain_Cave_Crayfish_F_%20stygocaneyi_William%20Elliott_resized_10-18-17.jpg?itok=DLXaD9yY)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Orconectes stygocaneyi
Description
One of three species of cave crayfish in Missouri, the Caney Mountain cave crayfish is known from only one location. Like many other cave invertebrates, this species is whitish and is blind.
Media
![Photo of amphipod on a rock](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2012/11/scud_amphipod_swimming_11-08-12.jpg?itok=4izi8F80)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Species in the crustacean order Amphipoda
Description
Often overlooked by people, but eagerly sought by fish, Missouri’s amphipods resemble shrimplike sowbugs. Scuds live in various aquatic habitats, and several species inhabit caves.
Media
![Photo of an aquatic isopod in an aquarium, crawling on a rock.](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2015/08/aquatic_isopod_8-13-15.jpg?itok=wbs4ZCef)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Freshwater members of the crustacean order Isopoda
Description
Everyone knows about terrestrial sowbugs and pillbugs, but many isopod species are aquatic. Missouri has several isopods that live in streams, ponds, rivers, and caves.
Media
![Photo of a Salem cave crayfish.](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2010/04/cave_crayfish.jpg?itok=6TQqL94G)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Cambarus hubrichti
Description
The Salem cave crayfish lives in caves in the Missouri Ozarks. Its localized distribution makes its populations vulnerable to catastrophes that might pollute or damage their cave environment.
Media
![ellipse](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2010/06/ellipse.jpg?itok=BuL3BVbO)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Venustaconcha ellipsiformis and V. pleasii
Description
These small mussels use darters, a type of fish, as hosts for their young.
Media
![fatmucket](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2010/06/fatmucket.jpg?itok=cOsaWrCW)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Lampsilis siliquoidea
Description
The fatmucket was a favorite species harvested for the button industry in the early 1900s.
Media
![brokenray](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2010/06/brokenray.jpg?itok=GAHMC9Ft)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Lampsilis reeveiana
Description
The Arkansas brokenray only occurs in streams that flow south off of the Salem and Springfield plateaus, so it is found only in about the southern quarter of Missouri.
Media
![butterfly](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2010/06/butterfly.jpg?itok=36Rv6Ncp)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Ellipsaria lineolata
Description
The butterfly is one of the most beautiful of Missouri’s mussels.
Media
![deertoe](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2010/06/deertoe.jpg?itok=wWGxgVwJ)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Truncilla truncata
Description
A common mussel in some areas, deertoe have decorative green markings.
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.