Synopses & Reviews
Need-to-know information on the classification and identification of aquatic invertebrates
This Fourth Edition of the standard reference used by generations of professionals and students is the source for authoritative information on the natural history, ecology, and taxonomy of free-living American freshwater invertebrates. Completely revised and updated, this professional field guide features a wealth of new knowledge on invertebrate animal phyla covered in the previous edition as well as fully modified sections on the preparation of materials.
Other important features of Pennaks Freshwater Invertebrates of the United States, Fourth Edition include:
- Current taxonomical arrangements of all freshwater invertebrate animals, excluding insects
- Improved graphical treatments and keys to identification, several provided by specialists
- Photographs and color plates to aid identification
- More than 300 line drawings, many new to this edition
- Taxonomic keys carried uniformly to genus level in all but two phyla, with frequent references to species
Pennaks Freshwater Invertebrates of the United States, Fourth Edition is an indispensable resource for biologists, ecologists, graduate students, and anyone who needs to acquire the thorough knowledge of aquatic invertebrates that is essential to understanding the community structure of freshwater environments.
Synopsis
A comprehensive work on free-living American fresh-water invertebrates. Emphasis is on the natural history, ecology, and taxonomy. Updated Third Edition contains major revisions for such taxa as porifera, annelida, gastropoda, and copepoda. Covers the vast new fields of invertebrate systematics that have arisen with the advent of biochemical taxonomy and scanning electron microscopy.
About the Author
DOUGLAS GRANT SMITH, MS, is a lecturer and curator of invertebrates in the Department of Biology and Graduate Program in Evolutionary and Organismic Biology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Table of Contents
Introduction.
Magnitude of the Freshwater Environment.
The Chemical Divergence.
Origins of the Freshwater Fauna.
Freshwater Emigrants to the Sea.
Major Distinctions Between Marine and Freshwater Invertebrates.
Evolutionary Shortcomings in Freshwaters.
Atypical Freshwater Habitats.
Dispersal and Barriers.
The Epidemic of Exotics.
Food Webs.
Collecting Ethics.
Comment Porifera.
Cnidaria.
Platyhelminthes.
Nemertea.
Gastrotricha.
Rotifera.
Nematoda.
Nematomorpha.
Tardigrada.
Entoprocta.
Ectoprocta.
Annelida.
Mollusca.
Arachnida.
Introduction to the Crustacea.
Phyllopodous Branchiopoda.
Cladoceran Branchiopoda.
Copepoda.
Branchiura.
Ostracoda.
Minor Malacostraca.
Isopoda.
Amphipoda.
Decapoda.
Appendix: Reagents, Solutions, and Laboratory Items.
Index.