Abstract

Aquatic biomonitoring is an essential task to assess the quality of the environment, using direct information provided by living organisms. In the present study, we described a new biomonitoring using a Remote Operated Vehicle, which allows researchers to observe the littoral aquatic areas with little disturbance to organisms. The technique was applied to a littoral area of Lake Como, Northern Italy, with the aim of evaluating the use of new technological tool to obtain information on the species composition, as well as on the movement patterns of individual fish and benthic organisms during different periods of the year.

Keywords: Dreissena polymorpha; Viviparus sp; Perca fluviatilis; Lucio perca; Quality assessment; Temperature; Movement pattern; Biomonitoring; Remote operated vehicle