13
June 2002
The stream that ran through Sompting Water Meadows (Lower Cokeham reedbed and ditches, Lancing) produced an interesting selection of freshwater animals. Amongst the reeds (Common Reed, Phragmites australis) and in the areas of heavy vegetation and heavy pigmented water (it looked like weak tea, stained with dissolved organic matter) the black diving beetle, Agabus sp. and Lesser Water Boatman, Corixa sp. were captured in a pond net.
A Pond Skater, Gerris sp., quickly skated across the surface film of almost still water. The largest and most distinctive animal was the Diving Beetle, Dytiscus semisulcatus, which is a large beetle capable of attacking and killing small fish. This species was identified from the photograph on the left by Phil Wilkins. This is one of five species of Dytiscus beetle found in England.
Cokeham Reed Beds (Sompting)
Freshwater Habitats of the Lower Adur Valley
Freshwater Life of North-western Europe Smart Group
