The waterbug book
The Waterbug Book - a guide to the freshwater macro-invertebrates of temperate Australia

By John Gooderham and Edward Tsyrlin

 

Published in 2002 by CSIRO Publishing, colour, soft cover, 232 pages

 

Price $A44.95 plus $A12 postage within Australia [up to 3 kg], overseas postage please request a quote

 

ISBN 0643066683 or ISBN 9780643066687

Winner of the Reed New Holland 2003 Eureka Science Book Prize.

 

  • Description
  • About the authors
  • Table of contents

Freshwater macro-invertebrates provide a useful and reliable indicator of the health of our rivers, streams, ponds and wetlands. This is a comprehensive and accurate identification guide to the animals that inhabit our freshwaters.

 

It is easy to use and includes over 350 high quality colour photographs of live specimens as well as a wealth of basic information on the biology of macro-invertebrates and describes the SIGNAL method for assessing river health.

 

The book is also full of practical tips about where to find various animals and what their presence indicates about their environment.

 

About the authors

 

Both are freshwater ecologists who have spent their professional lives working with waterbugs as researchers, consultants and teachers.

 

John Gooderham lectures internationally and has been involved in a number of community education programs in Victoria and Tasmania.

 

Edward Tsyrlin works as a professional taxonomist and acts as Waterwatch Coordinator for the Merri Creek Management Committee. His strong interest in macro-photography provided the original motivation for this book.

 

Table of contents

 

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Key to macro-invertebrate groups

Freshwater sponges (Porifera)

Freshwater jellyfish and hydra (Cnidaria)

Unsegmented worms

Freshwater leeches (Hirudinea)

Segmented worms (Oligochaeta)

Freshwater snails, mussels and clams (Mollusca)

Freshwater mites and spiders (Arachnida)

Micro-crustaceans: water fleas, copepods, clam shrimp and seed shrimp

Assorted crustaceans: amphipods, isopods, syncarids, brine shrimp and tadpole shrimp

Freshwater shrimp, prawns, crab and crayfish (Decapoda)

Springtails (Collembola)

Aquatic caterpillars (Lepidoptera)

Scorpionfly larvae (Mecoptera)

Toebiters (Megaloptera)

Spongefly larvae, lacewing larvae (Neuroptera)

Beetles (Coleoptera)

Flies, true flies (Diptera)

Mayflies (Ephemeroptera)

True bugs (Hemiptera)

Dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata)

Stoneflies (Plecoptera)

Caddisflies (Trichoptera)

Listing of SIGNAL grades

Glossary

References

Index