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Megaloptera
This invertebrate is good for fishing bait, and apparently for people to eat, too! They are predators of other aquatic insects and larvae like mayfly, and usually live under rocks in very fast flowing water.
In general, the community of aquatic insects is indicative of the health of a river system. Although invertebrate diversity is low in this case, AquaRAP scientists tell me that they do not expect that there is much contamination in the Caura because of its pristine nature – it could just be the water quality like low pH and low nutrient levels.
How ever, invertebrates like megaloptera can be an indicator species of healthy rivers near big cities. Others, like some chironomids, dipterans, and oligochaetes, often indicate contaminated waters.
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