Hi Mark-
I sincerely believe you are the most talented aquatic macro-invertebrate photographer on this planet.
Your modesty is most admirable, the difference between good and incredible notwithstanding.Hey Roger,
Thanks for the compliment. You've certainly looked at many photos of macroinvertebrates. However I believe that almost anybody can take good photos of them with the cameras of today.
Thanks, sorry to be redundant, just making sure what we are talking about! I was looking for the gills (but still not sure I see them) and was also confused by top/bottom vs dorsal/ventral etc!!They're the operculae {singular-operculum} and gills. The operculum is on top of the gills and made of a horny substance, The gills are underneath, protected from silt and other detritus. The operculae are probably an adaptation due to the nymph almost always sitting on the bottom in slackwater areas such as pools
and the edges of glides.
I imagine that the "spikeyness" would help to deter predators, along with it's width. In the creek where I found them the primary predators would be Caifornia roach, the fry of steelhead and coho, occasionally a steelhead that stayed over a year, sculpins, and dragonfly larvae. I suppose that the spikeyness would deter naive predators but the nymphs habit of sitting in shallow areas of the stream and being covered with detritus, plus it's natural camouflage would seem to be it's primary defense.Thanks, sorry to be redundant, just making sure what we are talking about! I was looking for the gills (but still not sure I see them) and was also confused by top/bottom vs dorsal/ventral etc!!
Would the overall “spikeyness“ be to deter predators? And what predator would that be effective on, if so?
Steve,Hi Mark,
Do the operculae move? That is, do they pump water over the gills in such quiet water or simply act as covers against coverage of silt?
Thank you,
Steve
Roger that!Hi Mark-
I sincerely believe you are the most talented aquatic macro-invertebrate photographer on this planet.