At the beginning of June 2019, the FishForLife project implementation team carried out a second campaign to take biological samples of benthic macronoinvertebrates from the Gilort River drainage basin. The first campaign took place in September 2018 and included 8 sampling points.

Laboratory processing of the samples collected in the first campaign led to the identification of 12 major groups of aquatic macronoinvertebrates, namely: Gastropoda, Oligochaeta, Nematoda, Turbellaria, Hydrachnidia, Crustacea (Amphipoda), Coleoptera, Diptera (with families: Athericidae, Chironomidae, Ceratopogonidae, Empididae, Limoniidae, Simuliidae, Tabanidae, Tipulidae, Dolicopodidae), Ephemeroptera, Odonata, Plecoptera and Trichoptera.

Various groups were found at all sampling points: oligochaetes, chironomids, ephemeropters, plecopters, trihopters, simulides, etc. while others had a low frequency (nematodes, turbelariates). Ephemeroptera and oligochetes had the highest densities, in some cases exceeding 1000 individuals per square meter.

The sampling campaign is part of A3 action Survey of the population status of target fishes and macroinvertebrate species in Gilort River. Here are some pictures made during the sampling sessions.

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