Wetlands, Invertebrates and Waterfowl

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Wetlands, Invertebrates and Waterfowl

• Whats the Connection?

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Phylum Annelida
Leech

• Segmented Worms

Christmas tree worm
Fireworm
Bloodworms
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Annelid Characteristics

• Segmentation
• both internal and external
• Allows for specialization

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Phylum Annelida Segmented Worms

• Two classes are important in freshwater
• Oligochaeta (worms)
• Hirudinea (leaches)
• One class important in marine environment
• Polychaeta (polychaets)
• Important for waterfowl feeding in estuaries and
  marine waters

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Class Oligochaeta(few hairs)

• Probably descended from marine polychaet
• Either terrestrial, freshwater, or wetlands

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Oligochaet Diversity
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Ecology and Distribution

• Many species are cosmopolitan or very widespread
• However, some species have very limited
  distribution
• Biogeography of species has not been well studied
• Some may have naturally wide ranges
• Others may be introductions similar to the zebra
  mussel or asiatic clam or water hyacinth
• Ecology of worm communities is not well understood

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Class Hirudinea(Greek for leech)no setae

• Freshwater, terrestrial, or wetlands
• Have suckers (anterior and/or posterior)
• some are predators
• some are facultative parasites
• some eat organic material

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Class Hirudinea

• 69 species are known from North America
• Most are not parasitic
• Majority are predators feeding on invertebrates
• Most are freshwater
• a few are marine
• a few live in very moist terrestrial habitats
• Most abundant in northern regions, i.e., MN, WS,
  etc.

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Class Hirudinea

• Parasitic species
• Are sanguivorous (feeding on blood) are
  temporary parasites (i.e., take a blood meal then
  leave host)
• Feed on the blood of
• fish
• turtles
• amphibians
• birds
• humans and other mammals
• Three or more blood meals are required before
  reaching maturity
• Non-parasitic species
• Function is similar to earthworms, i.e. feed on
  detritus

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Phylum ArthropodaIntroduction
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ArthropodaGeneral Characteristics

• Age of Arthropods
• Largest phylum of animals
• Over 900,000 species described
• Includes
• spiders, scorpions, mites, ticks mostly
  terrestrial
• insects, millipedes, centipedes mostly
  terrestrial
• crabs, shrimp, lobsters, crayfishes mostly
  marine
• Very adaptive - found in virtually every habitat

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WHY ARTHROPODS ARE SO SUCCESSFUL?

• Versatile exoskeleton
• Specialization of appendages
• Air piped to cells directly
• Insects
• Highly developed sensory organs
• Complex behavior patterns
• Reduced competition through metamorphosis
• Insects and marine crustaceans

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Phylum ArthropodaHigher Classification

• Living Subphyla
• Chelicerata- arachnids and their relatives
• Crustacea- crayfish, shrimp, crabs, etc.
• Uniramia- millipedes, centipedes, insects

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Subphylum Crustacea

• Approximately 35,000 species worldwide
• 13 orders found in U.S.
• Only 5 are strictly freshwater
• Includes 1200 freshwater species

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Subphylum CrustaceaClass Branchiopoda

• very primitive crustaceans
• No specialized respiratory structures- use legs
• Most are filter feeders
• Most are microscopic
• Many live in temporary aquatic habitats, i.e.,
  wetlands

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Class Branchiopoda

• Divided into 4 orders
• Anostraca fairy shrimp
• Notostraca tadpole shrimp
• Conchostraca clam shrimp
• Cladocera water fleas

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Order Anostracafairy shrimp

• Elongated, somewhat cylindrical, separated from
  other branchiopods by not having a carapace
• Have a pair of compound stalked eyes and single
  eyespot
• Fairy shrimp range from 5-100 mm in length

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Order Anostracafairy shrimp

• Each segment with a pair of appendages which
  function for
• Locomotion
• Food gathering
• Respiration

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Order AnostracaLife History

• Are dioecious with internal fertilization
• Males usually less abundant than females
• Are distributed locally and sporadically
• Inhabit temporary ponds or pools (wetlands)
• Presence of adults is very seasonal
• Generation time is very short
• usually about 3 weeks or as long as 24 weeks

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Order Notostracatadpole shrimp

• Have a large rounded carapace that covers the
  head and thorax
• separates it from other orders in class
• Segments or body rings have more than one pair
  of appendages, unique to this group
• May have from 35 to 70 pairs of appendages
  depending on species

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Order Notostracatadpole shrimp

• Inhabit temporary pools in western U.S.
• Not good swimmers so creep and burrow into
  substrate
• Eggs maintained by females in ovisacs attached to
  11th segment
• Feed on microorganisms and detritus

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Order Conchostraca clam shrimp
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Order Conchostraca clam shrimp

• Characterized by a bivalve shell- actually the
  carapace that is folded
• Has growth lines, each indicating a single
  ecdysis or molt
• Body divided into 2 regions head and trunk

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Order Conchostraca clam shrimp

• Are free swimming, living near bottom of lakes,
  ponds and temporary ponds or pools
• Have very spotty distribution and are extremely
  seasonal, but are widespread
• Are filter feeders feeding on microorganisms and
  detritus
• Females deposits eggs into brood chamber
• When she molts eggs remain in exuvium and fall to
  bottom where they hatch

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Order Cladocera water fleas

• More than half of the 800 living species of
  branchiopods are cladocerans
• Most closely related to conchostracans share a
  bivalve carapace
• Size ranges from 0.2 to 3.0 mm

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Order Cladocera water fleas

• All have a distinct head and a bivalve carapace
• Have a single sessile compound eye and a smaller
  ocellus

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Order Cladocera water fleas

• Body divided into head, thorax and abdomen

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Order Cladocera water fleas

• Most cladocerans also exhibit daily vertical
  migration
• Live in deep waters during the day
• Migrate to shallow waters at night
• It is usually related to food gathering

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Subphylum CrustaceaClass Maxillopoda

• Important component of the zooplankton of
  freshwaters and marine waters of the worldhave
  no abdominal appendages
• Includes organisms like copepods and fish lice
•  

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CLASS OSTRACODA(seed shrimp)
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CLASS OSTRACODA(seed shrimp)

• Bivalved carapace range from 0.35-7.0 mm
• Easily distinguished from Conchostraca by
• absence of growth lines on carapace
• few appendages
• About 2000 species about 1/3 are freshwater
• Inhabit wide variety of habitats lakes, swamps,
  streams, caves, oceans, on crayfishes

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CLASS OSTRACODA(seed shrimp)

• Ecology
• Very tolerant organisms to thermal and organic
  pollution
• Many can live in oxygen depleted waters for a
  period of time
• Eggs and last few larval stage may aestivate to
  survive drying and freezing
• Larvae may bury themselves in mud

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Subphylum CrustaceaClass Malacostraca

• Largest and most successful crustacean class
• Most are marine with complicated life cycles that
  include several larval stages
• Freshwater forms usually have direct development

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Malacostracans
Isopods
Amphipods
Decapods
Mysid Shrimp
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Order Amphipoda(Side Swimmers, Scuds)

• Are about 100 freshwater species in North America
• Unlike isopods there are not terrestrial species
• Live in lakes, ponds, streams, springs and
  subterranean waters
• Usually found in clean and unpolluted waters

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Order Amphipoda(Side Swimmers, Scuds)

• Range from 5-20 mm are laterally compressed
• Like isopods the cephalothorax is a combination
  of head and first thoracic segment
• Compound eyes
• usually well developed and sessile
• in subterranean forms are reduced or absent

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Order Amphipoda(Side Swimmers, Scuds)

• Most commonly found in streams and lakes where
  there is a lot of decaying vegetation
• Skeletal decaying leaves
• Can be found in very large numbers

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ORDER ISOPODA(Pill bugs or sow bugs)

• Are mainly terrestrial (only crustacean group
  with significant number of terrestrial species)
  or marine
• Are about 80 freshwater species in North America
• Live primarily in springs, streams subterranean
  waters

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ORDER ISOPODA(Pill bugs or sow bugs)

• Flattened dorsoventrally
• Lack a carapace

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ORDER ISOPODA(Pill bugs or sow bugs)

• Ecology
• Species usually reside in clean waters, feed on
  decaying vegetation on the bottom
• Some have been used as water quality indicators
  especially for organic pollution
• Live in the same habitats as amphipods, also can
  be found in large numbers

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Order Decapoda

• Freshwater species include crayfishes and shrimp
• Most are in more permanent waters but wetlands
  adjoining permanent water will have these species
• More common species in wetland areas are
  burrowing crayfishes

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ECOLOGICAL CATEGORIESOF CRAYFISHES

• Epigean- surface water species
• Lotic
• Lentic
• Hypogean- subsurface water species
• Burrowers
• Cave Dwellers

Orconectes juvenilis
Orconectes inermis
Cambarus deweesae
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Phylum ArthropodaSubphylum Uniramia
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Subphylum Uniramia

• Includes
• Millipedes and Centipedes
• Completely terrestrial
• Not important to waterfowl
• Insects
• Aquatic insects of greatest importance to
  waterfowl

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Aquatic Insects
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Whats an Aquatic Insect?

• Any insect that spends at least part of its life
  in water
• In most aquatic insects that stage is the
  immature or larval stage
• Some aquatics live in water as adults, which is
  generally the dispersal stage
• Aquatic stages most important to waterfowl

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Order Ephemeroptera

• Mayflies

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Ephemeroptera

• 2000 Species worldwide
• 568 North American species
• Primarily collector-gatherers
• Extremely abundant in lotic habitats, not so much
  in lentic habitats

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Order Odonata

• Dragonflies and Damselflies

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Unique Feature

• Larvae of this order can be separated from all
  other insect orders by the form of the labium
• It is developed into a protractile organ which is
  used for grasping living prey
• They are strictly predators as adults and larvae

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Odonate Habitats

• Most larvae develop in freshwater a few are
  semiaquatic and live in bogs few live in
  brackish water
• Are found in all types of aquatic habitats-
  ranging from ponds, lakes, streams, rivers,
  canals, roadside ditches
• Adults however are excellent fliers some of the
  best in the insect world (except for some Diptera
  and Hymenoptera), and are often found miles from
  water
• Larvae in lentic and wetland habitats probably
  most important to waterfowl

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Order Hemiptera

• Bugs

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Suborder Heteroptera

• Are known as "true bugs"
• They can be separated from all other insects on
  the basis of their mouthparts
• they form a segmented beak that is used for
  piercing
• All aquatic species are predators, except
  waterboatmen are ooze feeders
• Both adults and immatures found in water
• Potentially very important to waterfowl, i.e.,
  common in lentic habitats and wetlands

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Suborder Heteroptera

• In Kentucky 6 families are totally aquatic
  leaving the water only to migrate
• waterboatmen
• giant water bugs
• water scorpions
• creeping water bugs
• pygmy backswimmers
• Backswimmers
• Probably an important food source for some diving
  ducks

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Suborder Heteroptera

• Remaining families considered semiaquatic
• Five families live on the surface film
• Two families live at the margins of streams and
  lakes

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Order Trichoptera

• Caddisflies

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Trichoptera

• Truly aquatic order
• Adult terrestrial
• Larvae aquatic

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Trichoptera

• Larvae of caddisflies are common in almost any
  type of aquatic habitat
• Many families within the order are restricted to
  lotic habitats,
• But a large number have adapted to the lentic
  environment
• Some species live in temporary streams or ponds

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Trichoptera

• The most interesting aspects of caddisflies is
  construction of the shelters by the larvae
• this is done with the use of silk- caddisflies
  are among 6 orders of insects that are able to
  produce silk
• this also is the reason they have received the
  attention they have gotten some of the cases are
  of extraordinary construction!!
• Larvae are part of all trophic levels in aquatic
  systems

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Order Coleoptera

• Aquatic Beetles

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Coleoptera

• Single largest order of insects
• It includes about 400,000 described species
• Of these only about 5000 are aquatic in at least
  part of their life cycle
• About 1000 species are known from North America

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Coleoptera

• Adults are aquatic
• Larvae are aquatic
• Pupae are terrestrial

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Coleoptera

• Larvae
• Resemble caddisflies or hellgrammites
• Differ in anal prolegs, and other features

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Coleoptera

• Biology and Ecology
• Live in a wide spectrum of habitats including
• springs, streams, ponds, lakes, brackish water,
  rocky seashores
• Most aquatic beetles are substrate dwellers, but
  some are good swimmers
• Many species live in cracks and crevices or
  burrows and seldom get into open water
• Many species like to live among aquatic plants
• Most species need to come to the surface for air
• May be most vulnerable to waterfowl at this time

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DIPTERA

• TRUE FLIES

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Diptera

• Contains the true flies
• Gnats
• Mosquitoes
• Midges
• Horseflies
• Blackflies
• Craneflies, etc.

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Diptera

• In North America about 3500 species have been
  described
• The group includes many economically important
  pests such as mosquitoes, blackflies, horseflies,
  sandflies, etc.
• Are vectors of diseases such as malaria,
  filariasis, yellow fever, and encephalitis

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Diptera

• Besides the pest species
• Dipterans constitute an important ecological role
  
• Many function as
• Decomposers,
• Filter feeders
• Detritus feeders
• And generally act as agents in the recycling of
  nutrients
• Often found in huge numbers (1000s/m2)
• Therefore may be an important food source for
  waterfowl

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Diptera

• Adults
• The hindwings are extremely reduced to form club
  shaped balancing structures called halteres
• The mouthparts are modified for sucking or
  lapping liquid food
• In many families the mouthparts in at least the
  females form a piercing structure

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Diptera

• Larvae
• Never possess true, segmented legs
• They may have several pairs of prolegs

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GENERAL LIFE HISTORY
Female
Male

• Characteristically egg stage is very brief (few
  days to 2 weeks)
• 3-4 (some have more) larval instars first 3
  usually short in relation to last
• Pupal stage lasts 5-12 days
• Adult stage lasts few days to several months
  females generally live longer than males

Pupa
Life Cycle
Eggs
Larva
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Phylum Mollusca

• Two important freshwater groups
• Class Gastropoda snails
• Class Bivalvia clams and mussels

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Class Gastropodasnails and slugs
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Common Freshwater Gastropod Families

• Pleuroceridae
• Viviparidae
• Physidae
• Lymnaeidae
• Planorbidae

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Freshwater Bivalve Families

• Unionidae Freshwater mussels
• The most important family
• Contains about 300 North American species
• Sphaeriidae - fingernail clams
• Corbiculidae - asiatic clam
• Dreissenidae- zebra mussel

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Why as a wildlife biologist is it important to
understand these organisms?
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Are they just food items?

• Or do they give insight to waterfowl species?

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They can help answer questions important questions

• How do these birds feed?
• Filter feeders?
• Special modifications of bills?
• Hunters?
• Where do they feed?
• In the water column?
• On the bottom?

• When do they feed and on what?
• What resources are important to them?
• Temporary waters?
• Permanent waters?
• Can help in management decisions