Other Invertebrates

  • Other Invertebrates
  • Aquatic Snails
  • Flatworms
  • Water Mite
  • Flatworms
  • Flatworms

Aquatic Snails

common name: Aquatic Snails
scientific name: many different species
phylum: Mollusca
class: Gastropoda
habitat: most shallow freshwater habitats, including ponds, lakes, creeks, rivers, and vernal pools
size: less than 12.5 mm long

Flatworms

common name: Flatworms
scientific name: many species
phylum: Platyhelminthes
class: Turbellaria
habitat: vernal pools, vernal swales and freshwater marshes
size: 0.5 mm to 1 cm long

Water Mite

common name: Water Mite
scientific name: Hydrachna species
phylum: Arthropoda
subphylum: Chelicerata
class: Arachnida
order: Acarina
family: Hydrachenellae
Sacramento Splash - Helping children understand and value their natural world picture
Healthy vernal pools don't support mosquitoes

A female Mosquito rarely lays her eggs in the clean water of a healthy vernal pool.  But when a vernal pool becomes polluted, more Mosquito larvae occur in it.

Find out why...
Sacramento Splash - Helping children understand and value their natural world picture
What's in a name?

For Splash students, a "Tadpole Shrimp" is an endangered species that lives in vernal pools. For rice farmers, a "Tadpole Shrimp" is a common pest that destroys their rice fields. A rice farmer would think you were crazy wanting to save "Tadpole Shrimp" from extinction!

With scientific names, there's no room for confusion: the rice pest is Triops longicaudatus and the endangered species is Lepidurus packardi. Even a scientists who speak different languages can understand one another when they all use the Latin name!

Learn more about tadpole shrimp!