Some images of the West Branch of Rio Java.

This branch drains primary forest, and is rich in macroinvertebrate diversity, but doesn’t appear to have fish. In 2013, David surveyed this stream for fish, but did not discover any, and this year, Jackalyn collected macroinvertebrates using a D-net and immediately found a couple of new taxonomic groups she had previously not sampled.

The stream is steep, which likely prevents fish dispersal, and it’s bedrock substrate isn’t forgiving when the near-daily rains fill the banks.