MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Dear microbe hunters,
I’m devouring every book and resource I find on protists, Protozoa, algae etc living in fresh water, since I astoundingly spend hours on the eyepiece observing them.
I use mostly the atlas from Heinz Streble and Dieter Krauter for identification, but I find it somewhat limited. First off it cannot cope with a lot of species, but the bigger limitation is that it contains drawings and not pictures. I found it difficult to identify on drawings because I don’t see colours and diversification of organuli.
So to summarise, I know this question has been asked many times but would you recommend:

1. General literature on fresh water protists (the more comprehensive the better)

2. Identification books, particularly based on images, is there some big “classic” I’m missing??

I normally prefer to buy books and I normally prefer hard copies as I like the old good paper.


Thanks
Max

I have not reviewed it myself (yet), but I have seen recommendations of "Fresh-Water Invertebrates of the United States: Protozoa to Mollusca" by Pennak recommended. It appears to be much of what you're looking for, though the price may not be. Used copies of older versions are substantially more affordable.

Of what you've read thus far, what have you found the most useful?

Hi Max,

Prof. Dr. Wilhelm FOISSNER worked a lot on protists, he himself wrote 6 book about this topic.

He once sent our group a box of his books.


Bob

Hi Max,

The second edition (2000) of "An Illustrated Guide to the Protozoa: Organisms Traditionally Referred to as Protozoa, or Newly Discovered Groups", edited by Lee, Leedale and Bradbury, is a fairly comprehensive guide to protozoa. It consists of two volumes, and includes lots of photographs and drawings. It doesn't treat every single species, but covers many, and cites to primary literature in many cases. I think it covers all genera. It runs about $120, but in my view is well worth it for anyone seriously interested in identifying protozoa.

Regards,

Jim

I have posted regarding this topic multiple times. You can do a search and see the books I use pictured on shelves .