Surface film, first light — the moment most identifications are actually made.
Searches this device's copy of the reference set. Nothing is sent.
Describe what you noticedno anatomy needed
Say what you can honestly say. This does not name the animal — it shortens the list and tells you the one structure worth going back to look at.
Colour is not one of the questions. It shifts with age, light and water, and the reviewed records do not use it to separate groups — so “dark” or “pale” cannot narrow anything honestly.
These remain possible 39
- Mayfly
- Caddisfly
- Stonefly
- Midge (non-biting)
- Hellgrammite (dobsonfly larva)
- Scud / Amphipod (crustacean lookalike)
- Terrestrials (ants, beetles, hoppers)
- Baitfish / forage silhouette
- Damselfly / Dragonfly (Odonata)
- Aquatic beetles (Coleoptera)
- Shad (gizzard and threadfin)
- Alewife / river herring
- Cisco / lake herring
- Shiners and minnows
- Yellow perch, young-of-year
- Sunfish, young-of-year (bluegill and kin)
- Crayfish
- Leech
- Aquatic worms
- Sand lance (sand eel)
- Silversides
- Anchovies
- Menhaden (bunker, pogy)
- Shrimp (grass and penaeid)
- Mole crab (sand flea)
- Blue crab (young)
- Marine worms (clam worm, sandworm, bloodworm)
- Inshore squid
- Mullet (young)
- Killifish (mummichog and striped killifish)
- Sculpin
- Water boatmen
- Backswimmers
- Cranefly larvae
- Aquatic sowbug (aquatic isopod)
- Freshwater snail
- Clam (small freshwater bivalve)
- Alderfly larva
- Black fly larva
Look at this structure next
Ranked by how much of what is still open each structure separates, for what it takes to check. Every answer below is the real comparison re-run with it recorded.
- Body translucent — light passes through it, and the backbone or gut showsAt a glance
It cleanly separates 68 of the 741 pairs of groups still in play and you can check it at a glance.
- If you see it: supports Scud / Amphipod (crustacean lookalike), Silversides, Anchovies, Shrimp (grass and penaeid); counts against 14 groups.
- Aquatic insect crawling on rock or debrisWhere it was
It cleanly separates 46 of the 741 pairs of groups still in play and you can check it at a glance.
- If you see it: supports 13 groups; counts against 5 groups.
- Two long antennaeClose look
It cleanly separates 60 of the 741 pairs of groups still in play (look closely with it still).
- If you see it: supports Stonefly, Crayfish, Shrimp (grass and penaeid), Aquatic sowbug (aquatic isopod); counts against 12 groups.
- Deep-bodied and strongly flattened side to sideAt a glance
It cleanly separates 49 of the 741 pairs of groups still in play and you can check it at a glance.
- If you see it: supports 5 groups; counts against 7 groups.
Choose at least one structure you actually saw, or describe what you noticed. The comparison will not invent a match.
Reference windows · not a forecast
Typically around this month.
Published typical ranges. Elevation, latitude, drought and this particular year all move them. This cannot tell you what is emerging on the water in front of you.
What each structure looks like
Hypothesis boundaryReference plausibility is not a current observation. Check conditions, regulations, access, safety and conservation guidance separately. After comparing at least one visible cue you can share your observations with Field Ops.