1. Vertebrates - Amphibians
Pond life key
Smooth Newt (male)
Crest - females have no crest.
4 legs.
Brown spotted body, 10 cm long.
Common frog
May also be found as tadpoles or frog spawn.
Smooth, moist skin. Toads have drier, warty skin.
Green, spotted body.
Newt have tadpoles, just like frogs and toads.
Vertebrates - Amphibians

2. Invertebrates - insects (all have 6 legs)
Pondskater
floats on the pond surface.
Back 4 legs used for moving on the surface.
Front 2legs grab food.
Water scorpion
eats tadpoles and other insects.
One tail
6 legs
Brown body, 5cm long.
Springtail
Black body, 1.5 cm long.
Jumps using its coiled tail when disturbed.
Front legs used for grasping prey.
Dragonfly nymph
Black body 6cm long.
Powerful jaws
Small wings
Short tails
Powerful predator
Mayfly nymph
3 tails
Plant eater
Nymphs are the water living stage of flying insects.
Stonefly nymphs look similar but have two tails.

3. Hard case covering wings
Invertebrates - more insects
Great red sedge
Turns into a moth like adult.
6 legs.
Makes an open ended case from bits of plant.
Eats plants and insect larvae.
Midge larvae
Red body, 2cm long.
Head with an eye spot.
Turns into a flying midge.
There are 500 types of flies who have larvae that live in water. They will look like the midge larvae or the mosquito larvae.
Mosquito larvae
Hangs from the surface of the water.
Head with eye spots.
Hard case covering wings
Voracious carnivore
Back 4 legs adapted for swimming.
Great diving beetle
3 cm long

4. Invertebrates - Crustaceans
Water hog louse
Long antennae
Hard segmented shell.
13mm long.
Freshwater shrimp
7 pairs of legs.
2 pairs of antennae.
Hard segmented body, 2.5 cm long.
7 pairs of legs.
Water flea
Also known as Daphnia.
3 mm long
Eggs inside body.
Stomach
Antennae
See through body.

5. Other Invertebrates Leech Green hydra Sludge worm Flat worm Pond snail
Related to jellyfish
6 tentacles with stinging cells.
Mouth
Base sucker.
Leech
Soft segmented body
Rear sucker
Front sucker
A segmented worm
Green body, 6mm long.
Sludge worm
A segmented worm
Red segmented body.
About 1 cm long
Lives in mud.
Flattened body, 2cm long.
Head with eye spots.
Pond snail
Dark brown shell, 3cm high
Antennae
Muscular foot for moving.
A mollusc
Flat worm