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Aquatic
Macroinvertebrates are
small organisms without backbones
that live in water. They
average in size from 0.5 mm (about
the size of a pencil dot) to 50 mm
(approximately 2 inches). The
Boyne River contains
macroinvertebrates from several
animal classes including aquatic
insects, crustaceans, mollusks and
aquatic spiders. They play a
major role in the food chain.
Without them forage fish and trout
could not live in the Boyne River.
They are also indicators of river
health. For instance, if
stoneflies are present in a river,
it verifies that the river has high
quality water. If the water is
polluted or too warm to support
stoneflies then the river may not
support trout either.
Fortunately, the Boyne River has
many stoneflies and high quality
water and, therefore, a nice
population of trout. |
