Salmonflies
Pteronarcys californica
The giant Salmonflies of the Western mountains are legendary for their proclivity to elicit consistent dry-fly action and ferocious strikes.
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This seems to be a young larva of Limnephilus. Although not clear in the picture, several ventral abdominal segments have chloride epithelia.
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Animal Phylum Annelida (Worms and Leeches)
Worms and leeches are surprisingly common in trout streams, drifting on their own and not thrown from somebody's bait bucket. They often turn up in trout stomach samples.
Specimens of the Animal Phylum Annelida
3 Adults
I know most people know what a worm looks like, but when trying to tie an imitation, the memory is often a poor source of accurate color information, and a picture helps to get the right shade. One thing that surprised me in my sampling is that quite a few worms did turn up. Before I was a fly fisherman, when I used worms for bait, I always thought they were merely a tantalizing morsel and not a regular trout food, but I've since realized that there are quite a few worms that live in the sediment on a stream bottom.
What a strange worm... half red, half black.
2 Underwater Pictures of Annelida Animals:
I spotted this very large leech freely tumbling, and occasionally stopping, along the bottom of a clear, cool trout stream. I paid careful attention later and spotted two more like it, but this one was the largest -- probably over 7 inches stretched out.
There is one other picture of it.
There is one other picture of it.
In this picture: Animal Class Clitellata-Hirudinae (Leech).
I spotted this very large leech freely tumbling, and occasionally stopping, along the bottom of a clear, cool trout stream. I paid careful attention later and spotted two more like it, but this one was the largest -- probably over 7 inches stretched out.
There is one other picture of it.
There is one other picture of it.
In this picture: Animal Class Clitellata-Hirudinae (Leech).
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Animal Phylum Annelida (Worms and Leeches)
Taxonomy
Class in Annelida: Clitelatta-Oligochaeta, Clitellata-Hirudinae