An aquatic oligochaete (Annelida) from sediments in an Missouri cave. Photo by Steve Taylor, 2000. Pristina leidyi Smith, 1896 (Annelida: Oligochaeta: Nadidae), an aquatic oligochete. This individual (body length, excluding proboscis, 1.72 mm) was collected from soft sediment of a cave stream in Fogelpole Cave, Monroe County, Illinois, in September 1999. The slide-mounted specimen was photographed at 100x on an Olympus BX-50 compound microscope, and the image was digitally enhanced. Photograph by Steve Taylor, 2001. You can get more information on this understudied group of organisms. [Go Back to Cave Critters]

Illinois Natural History Survey

This page is maintained by Steve Taylor. Please email sjtaylor@inhs.uiuc.edu with comments and corrections. Created 21 January 2001, last modified 22 February 2006.