ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION AUTHORITY Critter Catalogue A guide to the aquatic invertebrates of South Australian inland waters. Critter Catalogue A guide to the aquatic invertebrates of South Australian inland waters. Authors Sam Wade, Environment Protection Authority Tracy Corbin, Australian Water Quality Centre Linda-Marie McDowell, Environment Protection Authority Original illustrations by John Bradbury Scientific editing by Alice Wells—Australian Biological Resources Survey, Environment Australia Project Management by Simone Williams, Environment Protection Authority ISBN 1 876562 67 6 June 2004 For further information please contact: Environment Protection Authority GPO Box 2607 Adelaide SA 5001 Telephone: (08) 8204 2004 Facsimile: (08) 8204 9393 Freecall (country): 1800 623 445 © Environment Protection Authority This document, including illustrations, may be reproduced in whole or part for the purpose of study or training, subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgment of the source and to its not being used for commercial purposes or sale. Reproduction for purposes other than those given above requires the prior written permission of the Environment Protection Authority. i Critter Catalogue Dedication WD (Bill) Williams, AO, DSc, PhD 21 August 1936—26 January 2002 This guide is dedicated to the memory of Bill Williams, an internationally noted aquatic ecologist and Professor of Zoology at the University of Adelaide. Bill was active in the science and conservation of aquatic ecosystems both in Australia and internationally. Bill wrote Australian Freshwater Life, the first comprehensive guide to the fauna of Australian inland waters. It was initially published in 1968 and continues to be used by students, scientists and naturalists to this day. Bill generously allowed illustrations from his book to be used in earlier versions of this guide. Bill actively promoted the study of aquatic science to managers and politicians, with the aim of improving the way we manage our waters. Consistent with Bill’s approach, we hope that this guide promotes a greater understanding of aquatic invertebrates and enthusiasm for the protection of our aquatic ecosystems amongst a wide audience. ii Critter Catalogue Acknowledgments This South Australian Critter Catalogue has evolved over a number of years. Earlier editions and drafts of the Critter Catalogue have been widely used by Waterwatch participants, and feedback from readers has contributed to this final version. The authors would also like to thank the following contributors. Past and present Waterwatch staff: • Ross Wissing for initially supporting this project and Deb Thomas for managing tenders and progressing the project. Many other past and present South Australian Waterwatch staff also provided feedback that has improved this guide. • Simone Williams, EPA Community Education and Monitoring, for an outstanding job pulling it all together—this guide would not have been published without her managing most of the pre-publication tasks. David Thorpe from Jamestown Community School and Mike Schultz from Glossop High School for their comments. Jackie Griggs and Chris Madden for scientific review. Various other Australian Water Quality Centre and the Environment Protection Authority staff who contributed. Australian Water Quality Centre for the loan of invertebrate specimens and The Murray Darling Freshwater Research Centre. CSIRO for the photographs that have been reproduced on the front cover of this document—© Edward Tsyrlin & John Gooderham—reproduced from The Waterbug Book: A guide to the freshwater Macroinvertebrates of Temperate Australia (2002), with permission of the publisher of the book—CSIRO Publishing. Alice Wells, Australian Biological Resources Study, Environment Australia, for scientific editing. John Bradbury for doing a great job with the illustrations. iii Critter Catalogue Foreword Our creeks, rivers, ponds and wetlands contain a vast diversity of living creatures. They are not just homes for fish, frogs and birds. These systems are dominated by aquatic invertebrates—animals without backbones. They are an important part of the aquatic food web and essential to the healthy function of aquatic ecosystems. Without them our waters would be almost lifeless. These aquatic invertebrates are good ‘biological indicators’, and studying them can tell us about the health of our aquatic ecosystems. It also educates us about broader biological and ecological issues. Many of these creatures have evolved remarkable adaptations to solve some of the challenges of life in water, such as the jet propulsion used by dragonfly larvae to escape danger! Understanding these critters and how they survive is interesting in its own right; however, it also encourages us to appreciate the value of aquatic systems from a perspective other than human use. Hopefully this will promote better custodianship of our aquatic resources and encourage behaviour that minimises pollution. This will lead to better quality waters for humans as well as the natural ecosystems that depend on them. On behalf of the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) I am pleased to release this Critter Catalogue. It is a scientific resource for the community that provides an informative guide to the natural history of the aquatic invertebrates of South Australia. The Critter Catalogue is a valuable tool for Waterwatch participants, teachers, high school students and community groups, providing them with information on South Australian aquatic invertebrates to help them more effectively monitor, understand and protect their local aquatic environments. Dr Paul Vogel Chief Executive Environment Protection Authority iv Critter Catalogue Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Phylum Porifera—sponges 9 3 Phylum Cnidaria—hydras and jellyfish 12 4 Phylum Platyhelminthes—flatworms, planarians and temnocephalids 16 4.1 Class Turbellaria—flatworms and planarians 16 4.2 Class Temnocephalidea—temnocephalids 20 5 Phylum Nematoda—round worms 22 6 Phylum Annelida—bristle worms, segmented worms and leeches 25 6.1 Class Oligochaeta—segmented worms 28 6.2 Class Hirudinea—leeches 30 7 Phylum Mollusca—molluscs 33 7.1 Class Gastropoda—water snails 35 7.2 Class Bivalvia—mussels, little basket shells and pea shells 38 8 Phylum Arthropoda—arthropods including water mites, water spiders, crustaceans, insects 41 9 Class Arachnida—water mites and water spiders 43 9.1 Orders Acariformes and Parasitiformes—water mites 45 9.2 Order Araneae—water spiders or fishing spiders 48 10 Class Crustacea—crustaceans 51 10.1 Order Anostraca—fairy shrimps or brine shrimps 53 10.2 Order Notostraca—shield or tadpole shrimps 56 10.3 Suborder Cladocera—water fleas 59 10.4 Subclass Ostracoda—seed shrimps 62 10.5 Subclass Copepoda—copepods 65 10.6 Order Amphipoda—scuds or side-swimmers 68 10.7 Order Isopoda—water slaters and sow bugs 71 10.8 Order Decapoda—crabs, crayfish, yabbies, freshwater prawns and freshwater shrimps 74 Family Atyidae—freshwater shrimps 76 Family Palaemonidae—freshwater prawns 78 Family Hymenosomatidae—small spider crabs 81 Family Parastacidae—freshwater crayfish and yabbies 84 v Critter Catalogue Contents 11 Class Collembola—springtails 87 12 Class Insecta—insects 90 12.1 Order Ephemeroptera—mayflies 93 12.2 Order Plecoptera—stoneflies 97 12.3 Order Odonata—damselflies and dragonflies 100 12.4 Order Trichoptera—caddis flies 104 12.5 Order Hemiptera—true bugs 109 Family Pleidae—pygmy back swimmers 112 Family Veliidae—small water striders or riffle bugs 114 Family Naucoridae—creeping water bugs 116 Family Belostomatidae—giant water bugs 118 Family Gerridae—water striders 121 Family Notonectidae—back swimmers 124 Family Corixidae—water boatmen 126 Family Hydrometridae—water measurers 129 Family Nepidae—water scorpions or needle bugs 131 12.6 Order Coleoptera—beetles 135 Family Scirtidae—marsh beetles 138 Family Psephenidae—water pennies 140 Family Elmidae—riffle beetle or long-toed beetles 142 Family Hydrophilidae—water scavenger beetles 144 Family Gyrinidae—whirligig beetles 147 Family Dytiscidae—predacious diving beetles 150 12.7 Order Diptera—true flies 153 Family Syrphidae—hoverflies 156 Family Tabanidae—march or horse flies 158 Family Simuliidae—black flies 160 Family Culicidae—mosquitoes 164 Family Tipulidae—crane flies 167 Family Ceratopogonidae—biting midges 169 Family Stratiomyidae—soldier flies 17` Family Chironomidae—non-biting midges and bloodworms 173 13 Glossary 177 14 Bibliography 181 vi Critter Catalogue 1 Introduction The Critter Catalogue is an information guide to the aquatic invertebrates of South Australia’s inland waters. This guide is aimed at Waterwatch staff and participants, teachers, secondary students and community groups. The Critter Catalogue is written to accompany The Colour Guide to Invertebrates of Australian Inland Waters by Hawking and Smith (1997), Australian Freshwater Life by Williams (1980) and The Waterbug Book by John Gooderham and Edward Tsyrlin (2002). These books provide more detailed information on the invertebrates of Australian inland waters. The Colour Guide to Invertebrates of Australian Inland Waters and The Waterbug Book also have excellent photographs of invertebrates. A locally relevant and user friendly guide to aquatic invertebrates Many texts on aquatic invertebrates are aimed at scientific audiences. These often contain complicated technical language that is difficult for the everyday reader to understand. This guide provides a simpler summary of the diversity, habits and nature of aquatic invertebrates of this state.