Benthic invertebrates, more commonly known as bugs, are aquatic insects, worms, mollusks and crustaceans that live at the bottom of a waterbody for a certain period of their life cycle. The presence or absence of certain species can be an indicator of ecological health and water quality. The makeup of their communities can relay information about the types of stresses or pollution that a waterbody might be facing. 

SNC is a partner of the Ontario Benthos Biomonitoring Network, which provides the provincial standard protocol for sampling, processing, and analyzing invertebrates sampled in local waterbodies.