Benthic aquatic macroinvertebrates: The hidden heroes of aquatic ecosystems

Benthic aquatic macroinvertebrates: The hidden heroes of aquatic ecosystems

A benthic aquatic macroinvertebrate is a small creature that does not have a backbone and lives at the bottom of a body of water for all or part of its life. They are large enough to see with the naked eye and can be found living under rocks, on logs and nestled in sediment at a stream or lake’s bottom. We call them “macros” for short.