




		Identifying

Invertebrate Taxonomy

Scientists organize living things into a series of categories. This process is called taxonomy. Taxonomy categories are listed below from largest to smallest along with an example that shows how humans are classified as Homo sapiens.

For quick shoreline and field trip identification, all river organisms can be identified down to the level of phylum, maybe to class, some to orders and only a few to families. Accurate genus and species identification is very complicated and requires the viewing of microscopic features back in a lab.

There are many thousands of species of invertebrates and it helps to know how they are related to each other. Some of the more common river invertebrates are classified below. Special emphasis is placed on the insects that are commonly seen. Click on the highlighted names for more detailed information.