Benthic Resources

Provided here are a wide variety of resources that will help you become more familiar with benthic macroinvertebrates. There are examples of simple field guides, family-level manuals and a wide variety of additional resources. You may begin your study by choosing one of the links from the list of resource below. Many of the links below are or include portable document files (PDF).

ID Guides and More

• Level-One BMI ID Guide

  West Virginia Save Our Streams BMI field guide.

• Level-One Couplet Key

  Level-one benthic macroinvertebrate couplet key.

• Level-Two Field Guide

  An expanded guide to help identify a variety of benthic macroinvertebrates families.

• Advanced Dichotomous Key

  Advanced dichotomous key to common aquatic invertebrates.

• Identification Resources

  Virginia Save Our Streams identification resources.

• Key to Life in the Pond and River

  University of Wisconsin's key to pond life and river life.

• Dichotomous Key

  Stroud Water Research Center dichotomous key.

• British Mayflies

  A guide to common mayflies of Britain.

• Benthic Macroinvertebrate Key

  Iowater Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring benthic macroinvertebrate key.

• 2020 WV Watershed Symposium

  YouTube presentation from the NPS Coordinator which introduces morphological features that aid in the field identification of BMIs.

Additional Information

• SOS Identification Activity

  Practice your macroinvertebrate identification skills.

• ID Quiz

  Macroinvertebrates.org identification quiz.

• The Role of Benthic Invertebrates in Freshwater Ecosystems

  Learn more about ecosystem services that aquatic invertebrates provide.

• Effects of Mountaintop Removal on Benthic Communities

  Downstream effects of mountaintop coal mining: comparing biological conditions using family and genus level macroinvertebrate bioassessment tools” by: G.J. Pond, M.E Passmore, F.A. Borsuk, L. Reynolds and C.J Rose, from the US EPA's Wheeling field office.

• Image-Based Key to Stream Insects

  Diagrams of morphological characteristics of seven major order of aquatic/semiaquatic macroinvertebrates.

• Key to Macroinvertebrate Life in Ponds and Rivers

  Online key to macroinvertebrates of ponds and rivers.

• Macroinvertebrate Photo Gallery

  Stroud Water Research's macroinvertebrate image gallery.

• WAB BMI Evaluations

  BMI data queries by county and watershed. ​