Aquatic Insects as Indicator in Water Quality Assessment of

Recreational Rivers

Suhaila Ab Hamid*, and Norshamiera Normi

School of Biological Sciences, University Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang. Malaysia.

Keywords: Biological Indicator, Biological Indices, Immature, Recreational Rivers.

Abstract: In order to attain the certainty that aquatic insects interact with water changes caused by human recreational

activities, a sampling was conducted in Kedah and Penang, northern state of peninsular Malaysia. Sampling

of aquatic insects and water parameters measurement were carried out on three periods of time; before school

holiday, during school holiday and after school holiday at eight recreational rivers. Before school holiday, the

abundance of aquatic insects dominated by order Ephemeroptera, while during school holiday, it was

dominated by order Diptera, whereas order Trichoptera dominated the abundance of aquatic insect after

school holiday season. The abundance of aquatic insect was the greatest during school holiday and it was

dominated by the order Diptera. During school holiday, the season offered the least suitable habitat for aquatic

insects especially the intolerant group such as Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT). All

biological indices described the river in all seasons as clean except for FBI which described the water quality

during school holiday season as fair.

1 INTRODUCTION

The aquatic insect community can give reliable

information as they spent most of their life cycle in

water especially during their immature stage.

Compared to other organism, insects are able to

impart a practical assessment of sustainability.

Aquatic insects have beaucoup of advantages to be

used as biological indicator and therefore, by

studying the diversity, population, behavior and

taxonomy of species, we can estimate the current

degradation rate and estimate the future consequences

of the water body.It is well understood that aquatic

ecosystems has received disturbances from human

beings since few decades. According to Hodkinson

and Jackson (2005), there is a strong relationship

between disturbances of the aquatic habitats with

human activities. Malaysian loves to do recreational

activities near the river bank. The recreational

activities such as camping, picnicking and swimming

is usually held in the upstream rivers because the

water is clean and cool. Thus, recreational rivers are

expected to have a moderate level of water quality.

High increase of recreational activities in rivers

probably degrade the assemblages of aquatic insects.

Therefore, this study was undertaken to determine the

composition and diversity of aquatic insects in

recreational rivers and the status of the water quality

of the recreational rivers.

2 MATERIAL AND METHODS

2.1 Study Areas

Bukit Hijau River is locatedwithin the Gunung Inas

Forest Reserve. The second river chosen for this study

was Sedim River that runs down from Gunung

Bintang. The sampling also was conducted in Titi

Hayun River and Batu Hampar River that flows from

Gunung Jerai Forest Reserve. All selected rivers were

famous recreational rivers in Kedah state and were

always visited by people observed during sampling

sessions. Bukit Mertajam River is located in Bukit

Mertajam Forest Reserve, Penang. The river was too

small for swimming, thus the management renovated

few part of the river into pool which allowed visitors

to swim. Teluk Bahang River located in Teluk

Bahang Forest Reserve, Penang. Teluk Bahang River

is one of the famous recreational river in Penang for

picnic, camping, swimming and team building

activities due to its well-managed facilities.

432

Hamid, S. and Normi, N.

Aquatic Insects as Indicator in Water Quality Assessment of Recreational Rivers.

DOI: 10.5220/0010044304320436

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference of Computer, Environment, Agriculture, Social Science, Health Science, Engineering and Technology (ICEST 2018), pages 432-436

ISBN: 978-989-758-496-1

2.2 Aquatic Insects Sampling and

Identification

Ten samples of aquatic insects were collected at each

riverat riffle habitats using kick sampling technique

followed by Merritt et al, (2008) using the D-pond

net. Three sets of sampling period was designed

comprised of three periods; before school holiday,

during school holiday and after school holiday with

two weeks gap between each period. The sample from

the net was transferred into a labeled plastic bag,

brought to the laboratory, sorted on a tray and was

identified to the family level using taxonomic keys by

several authors Yule and Yong (2004), Morse et al

(1994) and Orr (2005).

2.3 Hydrological Parameters

Concurrently with insects sampling, water samples

were collected at each sites and parameters tested for

water samples were dissolved oxygen (DO),

biochemical oxygen demand (BOD

), chemical

oxygen demand (COD), ammonia-nitrogen, pH, total

suspended solids (TSS), and total coliform test. Total

coliforms, E.coli and enterococci counts for each

river were carried out immediately in laboratory using

standard kit IDEXX Colilert Test Kit (total coliforms

and E.coli) and Enterolert Test Kit (enterococci)

(IDEXX, USA) following the standard procedures

provided by IDEXX.

2.4 Statistical Analyses

Non-parametric analyses was applied as the

abundance of aquatic insects was not normally

distributed. Kruskal-Wallis test (at p < 0.05) was

conducted using Statistical Package for the Social

Science (SPSS) version 22.0 for Windows®.

Biological indices were calculated to describe the

condition of selected rivers from biological

perspective.

3 RESULTS

3.1 Assemblage of Aquatic Insects at

Selected Recreational Rivers

Number of aquatic insects in most of the selected

rivers were greater during school holiday compared

to before and after school holiday (Table 1). Before

school holiday (BSH), a total of 5958 aquatic insect

was recorded from 9 orders comprised of 61 families.

During school holiday (DSH) season, the individuals

of aquatic insects were skyrocketing increased to

9304 individuals from 8 orders comprised of 62

families. The composition of aquatic insects in DSH

season was dominated by order Diptera with 37.4%

and followed by order Ephemeroptera (32.2%).

Meanwhile, after school holiday (ASH) season, the

number of aquatic insects individuals decreased to

7810 individuals from 9 orders that comprised of 66

families. Order Ephemeroptera (40.4%) dominating

the composition of aquatic insects in BSH season

followed by Diptera (27.4%) and Trichoptera

(17.5%). Among the aquatic insects collected,

Ephemeroptera was the major insects order inhabiting

selected recreational rivers (Table 2). In BMJ,

Baetidae was found the most followed by

Heptageniidae. However, in TBH family Caenidae

was found the most abundant. Ephemeroptera was

more diverse in BHJ and lesser diversity of

Ephemeroptera was recorded in TBH. There was a

significant different (Kruskal-Wallis test, χ

= 37.204,

df = 2, P = 0.00) abundance of aquatic insect between

seasons.The Family Biotic Index (FBI) index gave a

reflection that both water quality in BSH and ASH

seasons were moderately good compared to DSH

season which was considered as moderate water

quality (Table 3). However, other biological indices

such as BMWP, ASPT and EPT, described the water

quality for all seasons as very good, good and not

impacted, respectively.

3.2 Water Quality of Recreational

Rivers based on School Holiday

Seasons

The mean value of hydrological parameters

recorded during school holiday (DSH) season

were slightly decreased compared to before

school holiday (BSH) and after school holiday

(ASH) seasons except for total coliform, E.coli

and enterococci (Table 4).

Aquatic Insects as Indicator in Water Quality Assessment of Recreational Rivers

433



Table 1: Distribution of aquatic insects in all selected rivers

based on school holiday season.

BEFORE DURING AFTER

Fami

Indiv

idual

Fami

Indivi

dual

Fami

Indivi

dual

Ephemeropt

era

11 2407 40.4 12 3000 32.2 14 2218 28.4

Odonata

8 126 2.1 7 153 1.6 9 176 2.3

Plecoptera

4 179 3.0 3 138 1.5 3 248 3.2

Hemiptera

8 280 4.7 6 488 5.2 7 326 4.2

Coleoptera

9 261 4.4 9 308 3.3 8 270 3.5

Megaloptera

1 5 0.1 0 0 0.0 1 1 0.0

Lepidoptera

1 26 0.4 1 8 0.1 1 12 0.2

Trichoptera

12 1040 17.5 15 1727 18.6 14 2331 29.8

Diptera

7 1634 27.4 9 3482 37.4 9 2228 28.5

Table 2: List of taxa and their assemblages of aquatic

insects at selected recreational rivers.

Recreationa

l River

Order Family

THY BHJ

Ephemeropter

a Baetidae 1

1 1 1 1

Caenidae 1

1 1 1 1

Ephemerellidae 0

1 1 0 0

Heptageniidae 1

1 1 1 1

Isonychiidae 1

1 1 1 1

Leptophlebiidae 1

1 1 1 1

Neoephemeridae 0

1 1 0 0

Potamanthidae 0

1 1 0 0

Tricorythidae 1

1 1 1 1

Odonata Amphipterygidae 1

0 0 1 0

Calopterygidae 1

1 1 0 0

Coenagrionidae 1

0 1 0 0

Cordulegastridae 0

0 0 0 1

Cordulidae 0

1 1 0 1

Chlorocyphidae 1

1 1 1 1

Euphaeidae 1

1 1 0 1

Gomphidae 0

0 1 0 0

Libellulidae 1

0 0 0 1

Platystictidae 0

1 1 1 0

Plecoptera Perlidae 1

1 1 1 1

Peltoperlidae 1

1 1 0 0

Nemouridae 1

0 1 0 1

Leuctridae 1

0 0 0 0

Hemiptera Aphelocheiridae 0

1 1 0 0

Corixidae 0

1 0 0 0

Gerridae 0

0 1 0 0

Helotrephidae 0

1 1 0 0

Hebridae 1

0 1 0 0

Naucoridae 1

1 1 0 1

Pleidae 1

1 1 0 0

Veliidae 0

0 1 0 0

Coleoptera Dytiscidae 1

1 1 1 0

Dryopidae 0

1 1 0 0

Eulichadidae 1

1 1 1 1

Elmidae 1

1 1 1 1

Order Family

Y BHJ

Coleoptera Gyrinidae 0

1 0 0 0

Hydrochidae 0

0 0 1 0

Hydrophilidae 1

1 1 1 1

Lampyridae 1

1 1 0 0

Psephenidae 1

1 1 1 1

Scirtidae 1

1 1 1 1

Megaloptera Corydalidae 0

1 1 0 0

Lepidoptera Pyralidae 1

1 1 1 1

Trichoptera Calamoceratidae 1

0 0 0 1

Ecnomidae 0

1 0 0 0

Glossosomatidae 1

1 1 0 1

Hydropsychidae 1

1 1 1 1

Hydroptilidae 0

1 1 0 0

Lepidostomatidae 1

1 1 0 0

Leptoceridae 0

1 1 0 0

Limnephilidae 1

1 0 0 1

Molannidae 1

1 0 0 1

Odontoceridae 0

0 0 0 1

Philopotamidae 1

1 1 1 1

Phryganopsychida

0 1 0 0

Polycentropodidae 1

0 1 1 1

Psychomyiidae 1

1 1 1 1

Rhyacophilidae 0

1 1 0 0

Sericostomatidae 1

1 1 0 1

Stenopsychidae 1

1 1 0 0

Dipte

a Athericidae 1

1 1 1 0

Ceratopogonidae 1

1 1 1 1

Chaoboridae 1

1 0 0 1

Chironomidae 1

1 1 1 1

Dixidae 0

0 0 1 0

Psychodidae 1

1 1 0 0

Simulidae 1

1 1 1 1

Tabanidae 0

1 1 1 1

Tipulidae 1

1 1 1 1

*BHP=Batu Hampar River; THY= Titi Hayun River;

BHJ=Bukit Hijau River; SDM= Sedim River, BMJ= Bukit

Mertajam River, TBH= Teluk Bahang River (1= present; 0=

absent).

ICEST 2018 - 3rd International Conference of Computer, Environment, Agriculture, Social Science, Health Science, Engineering and

Technology

434

Table 3: Scores of biological indices of the recreational

rivers based on school holiday seasons.

Season

s FBI

Indicat

ion

Indicati

ASP

Indic

ation

Indicati

Before

4.7

5 Good 152

Very

good 6.28 Good 34

impacte

Durin

5.3

2 Fair 157

Very

good 6.38 Good 39

impacte

After

4.7

8 Good 151

Very

good 6.38 Good 31

impacte

Table 4: Seasonal variations of water parameters

(mean±SE) at selected recreational rivers.

Parameters Before During After

Temperature

(°C) 24.8 ± 0.11

21.97 ±

1.08 24.48 ± 0.15

H 7.1 ± 0.07 6.33± 0.31 7.12± 0.10

DO (mg/L) 7.4 ± 0.12 6.9± 0.35 7.98± 0.07

(

)

2.5 ± 0.25 2.75± 0.28 4.27± 0.40

BOD5 (mg/L) 0.3 ± 0.03 0.29± 0.04 0.34± 0.04

COD (mg/L) 23.4 ± 1.90

35.35 ±

3.73 58.56 ± 6.66

TSS

(

)

3.0 ± 0.34 3.91± 0.42 4.56± 0.30

T.Coliform

(

MPN

)

878.24±2.7

1529.24 ±

6.16 1259.1±8.4

E.coli

(

MPN

)

178.9 ±

2.90

457.77 ±

4.63

254.44 ±

2.07

Enterococci

(

MPN

)

864.6 ±

2.69 1042.9±9.7 920.79± 0.39

4 DISCUSSION

This study revealed that the aquatic insect community

was affected by human recreational activities

especially DSH season as the diversity was found

greatest before school holiday (BSH) and after school

holiday (ASH) seasons. BSH season, the composition

of aquatic insect was dominated by order

Ephemeroptera followed by order Diptera. The

domination of order Ephemeroptera at the

recreational rivers was undeniable as previous study

conducted by Flannagan et al. (1990) and Suhaila et

al. (2014) showed 80% of the composition of aquatic

insects was dominated by Ephemeroptera. Great

number of Ephemeroptera collected BSH season

might be due to its ability to exploit various kind of

habitat of extensive range from running to standing

freshwater, thus it also known as cosmopolitan

aquatic insects (Che Salmah et al., 2001). Less human

contact to river also part of the factors affecting the

composition of aquatic insects at selected rivers since

there were not much visitors in BSH season. The

quality of water in BSH season was indicated as good

and not impacted by the biological indices such as

FBI, BMWP, ASPT and EPT index. The composition

of aquatic insects DSH season was dominated by

order Diptera from family Simulidae and

Chironomidae. In general, dipteran was the most

advance aquatic insects as it able to survive under

harsh condition of water (Al-Sahmi et al., 2010)

which perpendicular to the biological index of Family

Biotic Index (FBI) of recreational rivers DSH

considered as fair compared to BSH and ASH which

were categorized as good. Relatively great abundance

of Trichoptera in ASH season probably due to the

restoration of the river due to human disturbance in

the river. During picnicking or swimming, people

tend to lift up the cobbles which were the

microhabitat for the aquatic insect and release these

insects into water from its case. So when sampling

was carried out at this time, a lot of aquatic insect can

be trapped. After school holiday season, the

substrates are stable and were less disturbed because

the recreational river was seldom visited by the

people. The stable substrates were preferred by the

Psychomyiidae and Hydropsychidae from order

Trichoptera as their habitat (Yule and Yong, 2004).

During school holiday season, a slight

deterioration of DO concentration and pH were

observed. The least DO content in recreational rivers

DSH season might be due to the water related

activities such as swimming and picnic during this

season because many visitors were observed in this

season compared to other season. Although DSH

recorded the greatest number of individuals of aquatic

insects collected, it was dominated by order Diptera.

The fecal coliform including E.coli count and

enterococci count in this study discovered to be

increased in DSH due to human activities at selected

recreational rivers and it is reported that fecal

coliform levels were higher at river with poorer water

quality (Dawn-Arlene et al., 2009 and Craig et al.,

2002). In addition, study conducted by Dawn-Arlene

et al. (2009) also found faecal coliform, E.coli, and

enterococci counts increased at recreational rivers

when there were recreational users (Al-Sabahi, 2007;

Eisakhani and Malakahmad, 2009).

Aquatic Insects as Indicator in Water Quality Assessment of Recreational Rivers

435



5 CONCLUSION

Ephemeroptera was found the most abundant

followed by order Diptera in all selected river. In

respect to biological perspective, all selected river

averagely considered as good quality and non-

impacted river. Great diversity of aquatic insects

collected after school holiday (ASH) season but low

during the school holiday (DSH) due to the quality of

water caused by the human recreational activities.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We are pleased to acknowledge the Ministry of

Education, Malaysia for the funding by FRGS grant

(203/PBIOLOGI/6711613). Our gratitude also goes

to all aquatic entomology lab members and technical

staffs in School of Biological Sciences.

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Technology

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