Water Quality Monitoring and Aquatic Organisms: The Importance of Species IdentificationAuthor(s): Vincent H. Resh and John D. UnzickerSource: Journal (Water Pollution Control Federation), Vol. 47, No. 1 (Jan., 1975), pp. 9-19Published by: Water Environment FederationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25038592Accessed: 01/12/2010 16:11

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Water quality monitoring and aquatic organisms: the importance of

species identification

Vincent H. Resh and John D. Unzicker

Several

methods have been used to

analyze the effects of human activities on aquatic environments. They include

the use of selected chemical and physical parameters, as well as a variety of biologi cal measurements that range from bacterio

logical analyses to bioassay studies of fish

and other aquatic organisms. Although macroinvertebrates are rarely used in bio

assay studies,1 they have proven to be ex

tremely useful in water quality monitoring in two different methods of investigation: studies of community diversity and use as

indicator organisms.

The first approach to water quality anal

ysis with macroinvertebrates involves de

termining the degree of organization that is present in the structure and composition of the component species of the benthic

community. These mathematical expres sions, termed diversity indexes, are widely used and of great potential value.2-4 There

are, however, many problems inherent both in the choice of an index5 and in the in

terpretation of the meaning of the estimate

of organization or diversity index that is

calculated.6

The second approach involves the use

of macroinvertebrates as indicator orga nisms. While there have been several use

ful reviews of the literature on the use of

indicator organisms,7-11 the recent mono

graph by Sladecek12 is currently the most

comprehensive work on the subject. It is

interesting to note that the use of this

saprobic or indicator organisms system has been accepted and applied by the majority of hydrobiologists in continental Europe and the Soviet Union. It is only in Great Britain and North America that the indi

cator organisms system has not received

wide acceptance.12

Several investigators have cited certain

taxonomic groups as characteristic of clean

water and others as characteristic of pol luted water. Beck13 developed a biotic

index of water quality based on a mathe

matical comparison of the numbers of or

ganisms that can tolerate no significant amounts of pollution with those that can

tolerate moderate amounts. The limita

tions of arbitrarily assigning entire taxo

nomic groups (usually family level or

above ) a tolerant or intolerant designation, as was done in the biotic index and in sev

eral other proposed biological formulae14'15 are obvious. For instance, not all chiron

omids or oligochaetes are limited to

strictly polluted conditions.16"22 In the

classic stream pollution recovery pattern,23 in which the dissolved oxygen (do) con

centration gradually increases from a mini

mum level in the septic zone of extreme

pollution to a higher level in the zone of

recovery, certain species in the genera Chironomus and Simulium are among the

first insects to appear in the recovery zone.

Some species in these genera are also often

found only in clean water conditions with a high concentration of do, however. Even

in genera with pollution tolerant species, there often exists a wide range of ecologi cal tolerances that allows organisms that

have been taxonomically placed in the

same genus to be designated pollution tol

erant and pollution intolerant.

The futility of attempting to develop water quality criteria by using indicator

organisms that have been identified only to

the generic level is illustrated in Table I.

-Vol. 47, No. 1, January 1975 9

Resh and Unzicker

TABLE I.?Benthic macroinvertebrate genera for which water quality tolerances have been established

for more than a single species.1 Column headings indicate tolerant, facultative, and/or intolerant.

T/F T/F/I F/I

Placobdella Dina Hyallela Palaemonetes Procladius Psectrotanypus Rheotanytarsus Callibaetis Helisoma Musculium

Parachironomus Palpomyia Pleurocera Gyraulus Quadrula

Plumatella Asellus Cambarus Procambarus Pentaneura Albabesmyia Coelotanypus Tanypus Cricotopus Chironomus Cryptochironomus Dicrotendipes Glyptotendipes Polypedilum Calopsectra (T/I) Telmatoscopus (T/I) Tabanus Caenis Stenelmis Tropisternus (T/I) Goniobasis Physa Lymnaea Planorbis Ferrissia Unio Sphaerium Pisidium

Orconectes Clinotanypus Orthocladius Psectrocladius Xenochironomus Harnischia Tanytarsus Micropsectra Simulium Hydropsyche Stenonema Hexagenia Acroneurita Sialis Argia Enallagma Gomphus Dineutus Valvata Ancylus Lampsilis Anodonta

Labrundinia Corynoneura Thienenmanniella Diamesa Stenochironomus Stictochironomus PsedochironomUvS Microtendipes Tribelos T?pula Macronemum Hydroptilia Chimarra Viviparus Campeloma Amn?cola Truncilla

In this table, the genera of aquatic macro

invertebrates for which water quality tol erances to decomposable organic wastes have been established for more than a sin

gle species (of a particular genus) are listed according to the arbitrary assign

ment of the individual species' water qual ity tolerances. These data are compiled from Table 7 of the M acroinvertebrate Section of Weber.1 In that review, the index species are classified according to the

arbitrary categories of (a) tolerant, "fre

quently associated with gross organic con tamination . . .

thriving under anaerobic

conditions"; ( b ) facultative, "frequently as

sociated with moderate levels of organic contamination'; and (c) intolerant, "not found associated with even moderate levels of organic contaminants and . . . intolerant

of moderate reductions in dissolved oxy gen." Of the 89 genera for which water

quality tolerances have been established for more than a single species, the compo nent species fell into different tolerance

categories in 61 of the genera examined. The largest group of genera in Table T

belong to the category in which some spe cies in the genus were judged tolerant to

pollution, others in the same genus were

designated intolerant to pollution, and others were classified as facultative with

regard to pollution tolerances. This table is a summary of the current state of knowl

edge concerning indicator organisms, and,

perhaps better than any other example, it

emphasizes the need for species-level iden tifications in ascertaining water quality tolerances. Above all else, it signifies the

questionable value of the generic-level taxonomic unit as a water quality indicator.

In practice, generic identifications have to be made either during the process of

arriving at the species identifications or

during the process of assessing what ma

terial is worth identifying to the specific level ( for example, water quality studies ).

The use of the genus as an end point in

identifications is of dubious value, how ever. For instance, in examining the range of tolerances present in Table I, the num

ber of genera that are either entirely tol erant or intolerant to organic pollution is

small when compared with the number of

genera containing species with different

pollution tolerances. This raises the ques tion of the value of identifying organisms below the family level if the generic level is the most precise level that may be ar

rived at with any degree of confidence in

the accuracy of the determinations.

While it is true that the family-level identification tells us nothing about eco

10 Journal WPCF

Water Quality Monitoring

logical indicators or water quality, it seems

equally true that generic-level identifica tions will not yield a great deal of addi tional information and may not be worth the time and effort. In fact, an empirical observation of the diversity in the sample

may be all that is needed to draw the same

conclusions that are reached after a de

tailed and costly appraisal made from

generic-level identifications. In most groups of aquatic insects, iden

tification of the immature stages cannot

currently be made below the generic level.

Unfortunately, it is the immature stage in the life cycle of an aquatic insect that is

most commonly enoountered by hydro biologists. Wiggins

24 pointed out that in

one of the best known orders of aquatic insects, the Trichoptera (caddis flies), im

mature and adult stages have been asso

ciated for only 20 percent of the total North American species. Basically, this critical lack of information is the reason

why usable larval keys for species-level identifications have not been developed.

There have been several keys developed for species-level identifications that are

confined to the fauna of a small region or to cases in which associations of immature and adult stages have been made for only a fraction of the species in the genus. These keys are rarely open-ended, that is,

by following through the series of choices made in each of the couplets, it is very likely that an identification may be made and may seem correct. If a species-level key were based on information dealing

with only a percentage of the species of that genus, however, an incorrect identi fication might quite easily often be logi cally determined. Likewise, if the key

were based primarily on associations of eastern U. S. species, identifications of

specimens from the western U. S. would not likely be correctly determined. In both of the above cases, it would be

particularly easy for misidentification to occur if the key were not well illustrated or did not contain an adequate morphological and ecological description that could be used in a final verification of the species level identification.

Even when associations have been made and species-level identification keys have been constructed, the problem of discover

ing ecological tolerances for each individual

species still exists. Several investigators have attempted to correlate habitats of macroinvertebrates with water chemistry analyses.8'

25~28 The major difficulty in us

ing these techniques is that water chemis

try parameters may fluctuate widely and

rapidly because of temporary pollutional effects or dilution from rainfall, and the

component species of the biotic community may better serve as a reflection of past, rather than present, water

chemistry con

ditions.

An alternative approach has been the use of laboratory studies in developing tolerance levels for aquatic insects sub

jected to environmental stresses, such as

heated water,29-32 pH,33'34 low levels of

do,3540 and extremes in other physical and chemical factors. Gaufin41 reported the results of detailed laboratory studies in

which the larvae of 20 species of aquatic insects and one species of amphipod were

exposed to high water temperatures, low do concentrations, and low levels of pH in order to determine their tolerances to these

parameters. One problem with the lab

oratory based technique is that little is known about the maintenance of immature

stages of aquatic insects under controlled

laboratory conditions and the effect of the stresses of an artificial environment on the

organisms themselves. The method has, however, proven effective with certain spe cies and has been used to evaluate their reactions to particular stresses. Difficul ties in using the laboratory technique to

develop water quality criteria at the spe cies level may arise because of two factors.

First, because closely related species may have drastically different water quality tolerances to a particular stress, all species

must undergo laboratory testing before a

final evaluation can be made. Second, be cause organisms in nature are subjected to a variety of physical and chemical stresses, there is the possibility that a synergistic effect caused by the interaction of com

-Vol. 47, No. 1, January 1975 11

Resh and Unzicker

bined stresses may have a greater influ ence than either of the two stresses alone.42

With the recent increase in the number of federally and locally funded environ

mental research projects, the lack of knowl

edge about the water quality tolerances of aquatic macroinvertebrates and the pau

city of identification keys to immature

stages of aquatic insects have suddenly become serious problems. These are

caused by the demand for consulting ser

vices in the identification of aquatic ben thos for faunal surveys and the preparation and evaluation of species lists for environ

mental impact statements. Although em

phasized in the literature for many years, the need for keys and basic life history in

formation for aquatic macroinvertebrates is now recognized by a growing number of

biologists. A potentially valuable source of baseline

data for a particular area are the specimens that were collected during earlier studies

and deposited in university or permanent museum collections. The preparation of

any type of environmental inventory or the assessment of an area for an environmental

impact statement usually requires a rou

tine search for pertinent available litera ture on the area to be examined. Rarely are floral and faunal lists published for pre cise sites that may be proposed for facili ties such as nuclear reactor plants or other

major construction projects. Museums,

however, usually maintain extensive col

lections that greatly exceed the published records of an area, and catalogues and col

lection data are often available. Even if

the collections are unidentified, they may serve as representative samples of the earlier biota of the area to be examined.

While ichthyologists have occasionally made use of museum collections to ex

amine faunal changes, records of such a

procedure being followed by invertebrate

zoologists or aquatic entomologists are con

fined to a single study, that of Starrett.43 Larimore and Smith44 used the fish collec tions of the Illinois Natural History Sur

vey to illustrate changes in the fish fauna of Champaign County, 111., over a 60-yr period of urban growth and development

in the area. Their conclusions indicate that even with fish, a group far more sen sitive to environmental stress than benthic

macroinvertebrates, the information that

may be derived from a comparison of past and present studies is extremely useful in

evaluating pollutional effects on the bio

logical community. The potential value of

comparing museum collections with pres ent population is well documented by Starrett's study of Illinois River mussels.

In the following example, water quality tolerances are developed for caddis flies of the genus Athripsodes by using conven

tional water chemistry techniques, litera ture reviews, and a reexamination of pre vious collecting sites to determine temporal faunal changes. This genus was chosen for several reasons. First, the species in it have varied life histories. Second, be cause of its large size and widespread dis

tribution, it is one of the most frequently collected caddis flies in aquatic surveys. Third, larval and adult associations for

species in this genus have also allowed for

species-level identifications of the imma ture stages, and keys have been developed for the eastern North American species.45

While caddis flies have often been re

garded as clean water species, several stud ies 27>46 have indicated that many of them

may occupy fairly polluted aquatic habi tats. It should be emphasized that several features of caddis flies as a group make them particularly useful in studies of this

type. These features include the presence of both tolerant and intolerant species, a

workable adult taxonomy, and the availa

bility of several successful techniques for the associations of immature and adult

stages.47-49

The genus Athripsodes is the sixth larg est genus of caddis flies in North America.

Many of the approximately 40 species names assigned to the genus may be syn

onyms. In many preimpoundment surveys, larvae of Athripsodes spp. typically appear in compiled species lists along with other common triehopteran genera such as Cheu

matopsyche, Hydropsyche, and Hydroptila. In the genus Athripsodes, the species an

cylus, angustus, cancellatus, dilutus, resur

12 Journal WPCF

Water Quality Monitoring

gens, tarsipunctatus, and transversas are

widely distributed over eastern North

America, while several additional species seem to be more locally distributed within this range. In establishing larval-adult as

sociations, Athripsodes larvae and pupae have been collected from localities ranging from Ontario to Florida, including small

standing pools, large rivers, small glacial lakes, and the Great Lakes.

The A. cancellatus has been reported as

being abundant in large rivers such as the St. Lawrence River50 and the Niagara River.51 Likewise, A. annulicornis, tarsi

punctatus, and transversus are typically found in both large and small rivers. Spe cies such as A. ancylus, dilutus, and flavus are common in small to moderate sized

streams, often occurring together in collec tions. Larvae and pupae of the locally dis tributed A. nephus inhabit "black water streams" of high tannic acid content, such as the tributaries of the Suwannee River in

Georgia and northern Florida. Larvae of A. slossonae have been collected in the

small, slow moving backwaters of a trout stream in Virginia, where the predominant caddis flies were temporary pool limneph ilids. The trout stream itself contained numerous larvae of A. dilutus, but no lar vae of slossonae were present.

Large lake species include A. erraticus,

erullus, saccus, and submacula, which are

almost entirely restricted to Lake Erie in their distribution.46 The presence of these

species in collections that were made in the 1930's and deposited in the Entomology

Collection at the Ohio State University, Columbus, provided the impetus for the

investigation into the current status of these

Athripsodes populations. Marshall52 re

ported the results of the extensive light trap collections from Lake Erie near Put

in-Bay, Ohio, in 1937. Of the nine species of Athripsodes collected, the following were listed as common: angustus, cancel

latus, erullus, resurgens, saccus, and tarsi

punctatus. Specimens of A. erraticus that were also collected from Put-in-Bay and are currently in the Ohio State University collections indicate that it was also quite common in Lake Erie during the 1930s.

In a more recent study, Horwath 53 re

ported the results of extensive black light ing from the same location as Marshall's earlier work. Only four of the original nine species were present: A. angustus, cancellatus, resurgens, and tarsipunctatus. The total numbers collected and the num ber of collections in which each species appeared were also reduced. Marshall de scribed the abundance of shoreline habi tats. These included sandy beaches, shal low bays of mud and vegetation, shores

with rubble, and other habitats with large rocks and boulders. The rubble areas with

accompanying wave action resembled habi tats in stream riffles. The similar substrate

types and the diversity of habitats present in this area today indicate that the poten tial for use by several species of Athrip sodes is still present. Undoubtedly, these

were the habitats used by the past Lake Erie species. The entire area was ex

amined intensely in 1972 and the only spe cies present were those found in Horwath s 1964 study.

The changes in the Lake Erie mayfly fauna,54 the aquatic flowering plants,55 and

water chemistry conditions 56_58 have been well documented. The changes in the caddis fly fauna may also be seen because it seems that the extirpation of four of the common Athripsodes species, erullus, err?ti

cas, saccus, and submacula, from Lake Erie is now complete. The more tolerant

species of Athripsodes remain, but in

greatly reduced numbers. Larvae and cases of A. resurgens were

first reported from freshwater sponges,

probably Spongilla fragilis Leidy, by Krec ker59 in Put-in-Bay, Lake Erie. Krecker described the larval case as being made of a parchment-like material in the form of a cone approximately 12 mm in length. Al

though he identified these specimens as be

longing to the family Rhyacophilidae, from the description of the case they were un

doubtedly Athripsodes, most likely A. re

surgens.

With the exception of a single record of a freshwater sponge's encrusting the case of a limnephilid caddis fly,60 this associa tion of caddis ?ies and freshwater sponges

-Vol. 47, No. 1, January 1975 13

Resh and Unzicker

is unique to certain species of the genus

Athripsodes. Several investigators have al

luded to the fact that the Spongillidae are

extremely intolerant to organic pollution.1'61 Mason et al.,62 however, reported the abun

dance of the chironomid Xenochironomus xenolabiis in the Ohio River. The larval

stage of this midge has also been reported to be dependent on freshwater sponge.45? 63,64 Thg condition of the Ohio River is not the pristine situation that has been de scribed as a typical habitat for the distri

bution of freshwater sponges. As in the case of Athripsodes, this suggests that with in the Spongillidae, a wide range of water

quality tolerances is also present. Brown,65 while studying the biology of sponge flies in the family Sisyridae, found the same

sponge, S. fragilis, in both a cool, clean lake and a warm, polluted pond. Sponges in the lake yielded only larvae of the genus

Climacia, and sponges in the pond yielded only larvae of the genus Sisyra.

Because of the dependence on freshwater

sponge, the distribution of the obligate sponge-feeding Athripsodes (angustus, alces, and resurgens) reflects the micro habitat distribution of the sponge. Jewell61 reported ranges of physical and chemical

parameters that seem to affect distribution of freshwater sponges within certain habi tats. The sponge usually associated with

A. angustus is S. lacustris, although another

sponge-feeding larva was reported as Ath

ripsodes sp. by Lehmkuhl66 from the

sponge, Meyenia mulleri. Fortunately, these specimens were deposited in the col lection of the Royal Ontario Museum,

Toronto, which enabled the identity of this

species to be confirmed at A. angustus. The early collections and detailed field

notes of R. E. Richardson16 at the Illinois Natural History Survey also provided ad ditional data for developing water quality criteria for Athripsodes caddis flies. From

1924-27, Richardson made extensive col lections with detailed locality descriptions along the length of the Rock River, from northern Illinois to the point at which it

eventually empties into the Mississippi River at Rock Island. Additional collec tions were made by H. H. Ross 46 from sev

eral locations along the Rock River during the late 1930's and the early 1940's. From examinations of the collections and locality designations of both early collectors, the localities at which A. menteius were col lected in earlier studies could be deter

mined. This species was the dominant

leptocerid caddis fly in the collections of

Richardson, although he referred to it as

Leptocerus dilutus in his notes. In 1971 and 1972, the Rock River was examined at four sites where A. menteius was abundant in both series of earlier collections. Neither immature nor adult specimens of this spe cies was found, although large numbers of

A. transversas, especially rare in Richard son's collections, were collected. In ex

tensive sampling of both larval and adult

populations, this was the only species of

Athripsodes present. In his analysis of Illinois streams, Smith67 reported that the

Rock River contains areas of urbanization and industrialization that contribute to the deterioration of water quality.

A decline in the population of A. men teius may also have occurred in two north ern rivers, the St. Lawrence and the Ni

agara. In reporting on the abundant caddis fly fauna of the St. Lawrence River, Corbet et al.50 noted the similarity of that fauna to the caddis flies reported in the

Niagara River by Munroe,51 which was

based on collections made in the 1940's.

Only three species reported from the ear

lier Niagara River study were not collected in the St. Lawrence River investigations.

One species was A. menteius. Two other

species were also in the family Lepto ceridae.

In reexamining museum collections, there are situations in which a locally dis

tributed species remains unchanged. In

the Apple River in northwestern Illinois, A. flavus was collected by Ross in the late

1930's. It was collected again in 1972, and a relatively similar population abundance

was reported. It must be noted, however, that the Apple River is one of the cleanest and most unchanged streams in Illinois.67

Unfortunately, there is a paucity of data

dealing with laboratory studies on the ef fect of environmental stress on caddis flies,

14 Journal WPCF

Water Quality Monitoring

particularly Athripsodes. Field studies by Roback,27 in which water quality toler ances were analyzed by the frequency of occurrence of different caddis fly genera under a specific range of water chemistry conditions, indicate a wide range of toler ances affecting the distribution of species of this genus, however. Representatives of

Athripsodes were found in rivers and streams with wide ranges of each of the

following parameters: methyl orange alka

linity, 20 to 200 mg/1; chloride, 3 to 11

mg/1; carbon dioxide, 5 to 10 mg/1; do, 1 to 11 mg/1; iron, 0.01 to 1.0 mg/1; total

hardness, 10 to 500 mg/1; ammonia, 0.00 to 1.0 mg/1 as N; nitrate, 0.03 to 0.7 mg/1 as N; pH, 3.0 to 9.0; phosphate, 0.005 to 0.5 mg/1; sulfate, 10 to 90 mg/1; turbidity, 10 to 1,000 units; and biochemical oxygen demand, 0.5 to 1.0 mg/1. The mode within these ranges is usually indicative of a clean

water fauna, however. For instance, Ath

ripsodes spp. were collected in habitats

ranging in do concentrations from 1 to 11

mg/1, but the mode was 9 mg/1. Similar

findings by Scott68 for A. harrisonii indi cate a wide range of tolerances, with this

species occurring in habitats in which the

pH ranges from 2.8 in acid swamps to 9.2 in alkaline lakes. Even with this range of tolerance of A. harrisonii to pH, however, Scott still considers the subfamily Lepto cerinae, to which Athripsodes belongs, to be the group of trichopterans most sensi tive to mild organic or inorganic pollution.

From a consideration of the results of the above field studies and the change in the fauna of the Rock River and Lake

Erie, it seems that within the genus Ath

ripsodes there is a wide variety of water

quality tolerances. The species A. errati

cus, erullus, menteius, and saccus are less

tolerant of pollution than are A. ancylus, cancellatus, tarsipunctatus, or transversas.

The distributions of the sponge feeding species A. alces, angustus, and resurgens are intimately linked to the water quality tolerances necessary for the survival of the

sponge.

Through associations of immature and adult stages and the development of spe cies-level identification keys, the museum

specimens that have been collected in con

junction with extensive water chemistry analysis, such as those studies reported by Roback27 and several recent investiga tors,69'

70 will be extremely useful in de

veloping annotations on biological indicator

organisms. The technique, used by Ro

back,27 of illustrating the frequency at which different genera appeared within a

particular range of water chemistry and

physical parameters will be a convenient form for data storage. This will particu

larly be the case when it is known how these specific abiotic parameters affect, and thus can be assigned to, organisms that have been identified at the species level. When data on an individual species are available over a wide range of conditions, a matrix

type of data arrangement that uses a multi variate analysis, such as canonical correla

tions, will be valuable in using information about water chemistry and biological agents in order to develop a predictive

model. A systems analysis approach that

employs biological, as well as physical and

chemical, data will be extremely useful in

examining the possible impacts of proposed actions on aquatic environments.

The macroinvertebrate benthic collec itons currently being made in the prepara tion of environmental impact statements are also potentially valuable to the devel

opment of workable annotations regarding water quality tolerances at the species

level. The most obvious aspect of the im

portance of the specimens used in prepar

ing these statements is that, in most studies

involving macroinvertebrates, water chem

istry parameters are measured, along with the benthos, at designated stations. De tailed substrate, vegetation, and geological information is also often combined in stud ies of potential sites of power plants, dams, or other major civil works activities. Be cause of the tremendous number of sam

ples taken in conjunction with environ

mental impact statements, the occurrence

of and frequencies at which species appear in certain chemical and physical ranges

might provide a great deal of useful in

formation in preparing annotations of wa

ter quality tolerances at the species level.

-Vol. 47, No. 1, January 1975 15

Resh and Unzicker

Unfortunately, these collected specimens, often referred to as voucher specimens, are

rarely deposited in either museum or major

university collections and are not available

for general use. Many consulting firms

have justified their practice of not main

taining specimens, because they feel either that the clients may prefer to keep all or

representative specimens themselves or that after the project has been completed, neither the client nor the consulting firms has any further use for the specimens. Even if collections are kept by the consult

ing firms, the chances are great that, with out the trained personnel necessary to

maintain them, the specimens will become desiccated or unusable in some other way and therefore be useless to future re

searchers.

The advantages of depositing collections at museums or major universities far out

weigh any of the possible disadvantages. The specimens would be available for fu ture studies of an area, and they may be

extremely valuable in assessing changes, such as is the case with the Lake Erie and

Rock River collections that were deposited at Ohio State University and the Illinois

Natural History Survey. When specimens are deposited at a museum that has trained curatorial personnel, their value as voucher

specimens may be more adequately in sured. A third advantage is that the taxo nomic expertise that most universities pos sess would be available to assist in the

major identification problems of the con

sulting firms. Therefore, a long-term co

operative effort of this nature might benefit both the impact statement specialists and the academic taxonomists.

It is not unfeasible to expect consulting firms to pay a fee for curatorial or taxo nomic assistance. In the long run, the overhead for voucher specimens mainte nance and the difficulty involved in locat

ing taxonomists and specialists would be reduced. These advantages would more than compensate for curatorial and taxo nomic assistance fees. For the taxonomists, not only would a cooperative effort with

consulting firms increase the size of the col

lections, but it would also result in speci

mens with more valuable information, thus

making each collection a component in the

development of a potential biological in

dicator organism.

In essence, the authors are suggesting greater cooperation between the consulting industry and academic personnel from

which both sides would benefit. The in formation compiled by the consulting firm

will greatly aid both the taxonomist and

ecologist in developing water quality cri teria that may serve to enhance the true

concept of an indicator organism, that is, an understanding of water quality toler ances at the species level.

There is a critical need for increased

support of investigations to develop iden tification keys and resolve basic life his

tory problems of aquatic macroinverte brates. It is also important that ecological agencies support the programs of taxono

mists by collecting data and producing publications. As is illustrated in Table I,

biologists are engaging in fruitless exer cise if they intend to make any decisions about indicator organisms by operating at the generic level of macroinvertebrate identifications.

The time and effort spent on identifying specimens' genus and in developing end less and often meaningless faunal lists for environmental impact statements should be shifted to associating immature and adult

aquatic insects and to developing identi fication keys. If this were done, the spe cies lists prepared in the future would not

merely be taxonomic exercises but valuable tools in the biological assessment of water

quality.

Acknowledgments

Credits. The authors would like to thank Warren U. Brigham, Philip W. Smith, Milton W. Sanderson, and Glenn B. Wig gins for reviewing the manuscript. Charles

Triplehorn and Wilson Britt provided speci mens from Put-in-Bay, Lake Erie, Ohio, for this study.

Authors. Vincent H. Resh, formerly with the Water Resources Laboratory, Univer

sity of Louisville, Ky., is assistant professor of biology, Department of Biology, Ball

16 Journal WPCF

Water Quality Monitoring

State University, Muncie, Ind. John D.

Unzicker is assistant taxonomist, Section of Faunistic Surveys and Insect Identification, Illinois Natural History Survey, Urbana, 111.

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