Welcome to the Aquatic Invertebrates of Alberta Online Textbook

The Aquatic Invertebrates of Alberta was published in hard cover and paper editions by The University of Alberta Press, 1991

In the process of converting this publication to an online resource we tried to maintain as much of the original format as possible while adding extra features to allow easier navigation.

The contents of this version have not been altered or modified from the original 1991 publication.

A great diversity of invertebrate life is found beneath the surface of Alberta's lakes and streams. This fascinating fauna of Alberta's freshwater invertebrates ranges from tiny microscopic water bears to the easily recognized crayfish, the largest freshwater invertebrate in Alberta.

All major groups of Alberta's aquatic invertebrates are covered. Nonarthropoda includes Porifera, Hydrozoa, Microturbellaria, Tricladida, Nematoda, Nematomorpha, Gastrotricha, Rotifera, Bryozoa, Oligochaeta, Hirudinea, Gastropoda, Pelecypoda, and Tardigrada. Arthropoda is divided into three sections: Arachnida which includes Hydrachnidia and Aranae; Crustacea which includes Anostraca, Notostraca, Conchostraca, Cladocera, Copepoda, Branchiura, Ostracoda, Amphipoda, and other Malacostraca: and Insecta which includes Collembola, Ephemeroptera, Odonata, Plecoptera, Hemiptera, Megaloptera, Neuroptera, Lepidoptera, Trichoptera, Coleoptera, and Diptera.

Each taxon chapter has a section on collecting, information on collecting sites, preserving, and biology of the group. Seven black and white photographs, 203 colored photographs 133 pictoral keys, 115 whole-specimen drawings and 32 figures complement the text. A methods section deals with suggestions on collecting, identifying, and preserving invertebrates and includes a short segment on classification and taxonomical units.

Also included are a Glossary, correlated with terminology in the pictoral keys and in the text, a section on References Sited a Survey of References to Alberta's Freshwater Invertebrates, and an Index to Common and Scientific names of Taxa

Aquatic invertebrates of Alberta complements existing field guides to organisms in Alberta and will be of interest to anglers, aquatic entomologists, fisheries biologists, aquatic pest control agencies, private consultants, water quality biologists, biology teachers, conservationists and others.

Hugh F. Clifford was a professor in the Department of Zoology and since 1993 a professor emeritus in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta. He has taught invertebrate zoology courses at the University since 1965, received the 1989-90 Faculty of Science Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the 1993 A. C Rutherford Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at the University of Alberta. His research pertains to the ecology of freshwater invertebrates.