The famous nocturnal Hex hatch of the Midwest (and a few other lucky locations) stirs to the surface mythically large brown trout that only touch streamers for the rest of the year.
This one was surprisingly straightforward to identify. The lack of a sclerite at the base of the lateral hump narrows the field quite a bit, and the other options followed fairly obvious characteristics to Clostoeca, which only has one species, Clostoeca disjuncta.
Crustaceans are classified as one of those inconvenient intermediate taxonomic levels, the subphylum. The varieties of interest to trout anglers are in the class Malacostraca.
It contains the orders of scuds (Amphipoda), sowbugs (Isopoda), opossum or mysis shrimp (Mysida), and crayish (Decapoda). Crayfish and scuds are both extremely important trout prey.
Specimens of the Arthropod Class Crustacea-Malacostraca
A crayfish chews on a Hexagenia limbata nymph shortly after a small Hex emergence. I didn't catch any fish, but playing around with my flashlight and camera in the rocks proved productive.
My name is Leonardo GarcĂa, I am a biologist intern in the National Autonomous University of Mexico and I'm doing my thesis with title "Morphological variation in the genus Caecidotea isopods (Packard, 1871) (Crustacea: Peracarida: Isopoda) of Mexico." Inside the National Collection of Crustacean, Biology Institute (UNAM).
I was wondering if somebody can help me to get some specimens of the specie Caecidotea communis and send them to me to continue with my thesis work. It would help and enrich my study.