Nymph ID

[onemorecast]

Found this small nymph (about 3/4 cm) on the Martins Creek this morning. I paged through Troutnut trying to ID it, but I could be there forever. Plus Jason's pictures are so incredibly detailed, it's like comparing apples to oranges. All I could capture in this photo was the basic shape, but maybe someone can identify it. I believe the tail has two segments. Any ideas?

 

[Taxon]

Jessie-

Your mayfly nymph appears to be a crawler. The only crawler nymphs with two tails are Epeorus and Ironides, and it doesn't appear to be either of those. If I were to take a guess based on its general appearance, it would be Ephemerella, perhaps E. invaria (previously classified as E. rotunda), and that it actually has 3 tails.

Next time, take a jar lid with white enamel on the inside so you can photograph the nymph submerged in the water. When you take one out of the water, all the body appendages stick to the body or one another, so it makes identification extremely problematic.

 

[onemorecast]

Thanks Taxon! I realized after the fact that I should have had it submerged. It did a few tail-over-head flips for me when I tried to get it to climb onto my finger.

The next time I flip a few rocks over (which is just about every time I fish) I'll have a jar lid with me. Thanks for the advice.

Jessie-

Your mayfly nymph appears to be a crawler. The only crawler nymphs with two tails are Epeorus and Ironides, and it doesn't appear to be either of those. If I were to take a guess based on its general appearance, it would be Ephemerella, perhaps E. invaria (previously classified as E. rotunda), and that it actually has 3 tails.

Next time, take a jar lid with white enamel on the inside so you can photograph the nymph submerged in the water. When you take one out of the water, all the body appendages stick to the body or one another, so it makes identification extremely problematic.

 

[khuhner]

IMHO, looks like a Hendrickson, but cant be sure as we cant count the tails