Overview

The spathidiids belong to the ciliate subclass Haptoria (Protozoa, Ciliophora), that is, they are predators using toxicysts to overwhelm the prey. Over 200 nominal spathidiid species have been described, sometimes based on seemingly minute differences. Thus, many protozoologists considered them as indeterminable and claimed for a detailed revision. The present monograph carefully revises the taxonomy, nomenclature, and ecology of all nominal species and shows that spathidiid diversity has been greatly underestimated. Based on the reinvestigation of described species with modern methods (silver impregnation, scanning electron microscopy) and the first description of over 50 new species, the family Spathidiidae is split into four families and 20 genera. Each species is described and figured in detail, making it unnecessary to go back to the original literature often difficult to obtain. Two identification keys are provided, viz., one for taxonomists and another, simple key for users not specifically trained in ciliate taxonomy.

Full Product Details

Author:   Wilhelm Foissner ,  Kuidong Xu
Publisher:   Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Imprint:   Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Edition:   2007 ed.
Volume:   81
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 2.60cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   1.930kg
ISBN:  

9781402042102

ISBN 10:   1402042108
Pages:   490
Publication Date:   15 December 2006
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

General Section.- Systematic Section.- Family Protospathidiidae nov. gam..- Family Arcuospathidiidae nov. fam..- Family Apertospathulidea FOISSNER, XU & KREUTZ, 2005.

Reviews

Author Information

Prof. W. Foissner is Professor (Extraordinarius) of Zoology at Salzburg University. Since 1996 he has been President of German Society of Protozoologists. He has on his name over 500 publications, including about 300 peer-reviewed papers and 8 books (with together over 5000 pages), in international and national scientific journals, most about ciliates, but some on flagellates, naked and testate amoebae, and sporozoans. He is an invited speaker at many meetings. His main interests are Taxonomy, phylogeny, evolution, ecology and biodiversity of freshwater and soil protozoa, mainly ciliates and testate amoebae.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions