New book on my shelf

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ivangallego24
Posts: 54
Joined: Thu Nov 15, 2018 11:20 am
Location: España

New book on my shelf

#1 Post by ivangallego24 » Fri Jan 22, 2021 1:22 pm

The other day I asked for this book and it arrived yesterday, I already had it in digital format for a long time, but I also wanted to have it in physical format, it is also the only best there is in my language, which is Spanish, it is the 1987 edition and I don't know if someone else will have it around here, if so, I would very much like to know your opinion and since being a book from 1987 I also have the doubt whether it is still totally valid for today, I personally love all the book and has many species and of all types, for me it is the best book of microorganisms that there is at least in my language.
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Bruce Taylor
Posts: 986
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2015 11:34 am

Re: New book on my shelf

#2 Post by Bruce Taylor » Sat Jan 23, 2021 8:35 pm

That's a translation of an older edition of a German book, Das Leben im Wassertropfen. It's a helpful introductory guide, with very nice pictures. The taxonomy is out of date, and it has the problem of all "field guides," which is that it shows only a small number of organisms, which could lead users to underestimate the real diversity in our waters. For instance, it gives information on roughly 180 ciliates, which is not very many, when you consider that there are about 7000 named species already, at least 4,500 of which are likely to be valid (and there may be another 30,000 that have yet to be described). It's a nice book, in any case. :)

einman
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Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2015 1:03 am

Re: New book on my shelf

#3 Post by einman » Mon Jan 25, 2021 12:26 am

I'm curious Bruce. What guides do you utilize the most? I have many but given your ability to identify both genus and species I would not mind adding to my collection!

Bruce Taylor
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Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2015 11:34 am

Re: New book on my shelf

#4 Post by Bruce Taylor » Wed Jan 27, 2021 3:32 pm

einman wrote:
Mon Jan 25, 2021 12:26 am
I'm curious Bruce. What guides do you utilize the most? I have many but given your ability to identify both genus and species I would not mind adding to my collection!
Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, Acta Protozoologica, Archiv für Prostistenkunde, European Journal of Protistology.... ;) Taxonomic revisions (of genus or family, usually) are especially helpful, because they cover the known diversity for a given group. Some revisions are in book form (e.g. Vdacny and Foissner's Monograph of the Dileptids). Others are long articles in journals (e.g. Warren's revisions of peritrichs from the Bulletin of the British Museum). Also, you will often find partial or complete revisions embedded in studies of a single species. For instance, in a recent paper describing the new species Paraurostyla wuhanensis, there is a helpful reassessment of the whole genus, including a chart comparing measurements and traits of individual species: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... Q4-EoY7Rtg

I don't like the "field guide" model much, because it can create a false impression of the real diversity, leading users to shoehorn a wide variety of organisms into the short list of taxa provided in the guide. Misidentified critters didn't cause problems in 1970, but these days we microscopists can post our errors on YouTube and forums like this one, and these can then turn up on Google Images...to mislead other people (including, sometimes, working biologists). It creates a "confirmation spiral," a chain of self-compounding mistakes.

The guides that confine themselves to genus-level identifications are much better, especially if they include diagnostic criteria in written form. If you need a wide-ranging all-purpose beginner's guide the best is still DJ Patteron's Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa (though still very sketchy and incomplete). For ciliates, a very helpful guide is Colin Curds' British and other Freshwater Ciliated Protozoa. The pictures are not much use, but the keys and written descriptions are excellent (many of these are excerpted in the systematics resources on the NIES site). For ciliates again, the 4 volume [/i] Revision der Ciliaten des Saprobiensystems [/i] by Foissner et al. is indispensable...as long as you remember that it only covers the ciliates that are likely to turn up in wastewater facilities! For soil ciliates, Foissner's monographs on samples from Namibia, Venezuela etc. are indispensable. For hypotrichs, Berger's series of monographs is the place to start. For euglenoids, Huber-Pestalozzi is still a marvellous resource (the taxonomy is old, but that's easy to work around). One of these days, I should compile a proper list of resources.

Sir
Posts: 111
Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2020 2:58 am

Re: New book on my shelf

#5 Post by Sir » Thu Jan 28, 2021 5:37 am

Bruce, thanks for all the references! If you ever decide to write a beginners identification guide, I'll be one of the first in line to buy it (or contribute to the Kickstarter campaign) :D

Rylander
Posts: 50
Joined: Tue Jul 28, 2015 9:06 pm

Re: New book on my shelf

#6 Post by Rylander » Fri Jan 29, 2021 7:43 am

Hi I found this link to Foissner work

http://www.wfoissner.at/publications.htm

Rylander

Bruce Taylor
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Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2015 11:34 am

Re: New book on my shelf

#7 Post by Bruce Taylor » Fri Jan 29, 2021 1:20 pm

Yes, Foissner's monographs are a treasure! Before his sudden death, less than a year ago, he uploaded all of his life's work to his website and made it freely available to the public. Originally, he included his published papers as well (more than 750 of them!), but I think those are no longer directly accessible through his site. Perhaps some of his publishers objected. Luckily, you can still access them through the wayback machine on the Internet Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20190401110 ... ations.htm

Rylander
Posts: 50
Joined: Tue Jul 28, 2015 9:06 pm

Re: New book on my shelf

#8 Post by Rylander » Fri Jan 29, 2021 4:26 pm

Hi Bruce, I have tried random links and they all worked.

Rylander

einman
Posts: 1508
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2015 1:03 am

Re: New book on my shelf

#9 Post by einman » Sun Jan 31, 2021 1:33 am

Thanks Bruce.
I will add these books to my collection.

I currently use the illustrated guide to Protozoa Vol 1 & 2 by John J. K. Lee, Gordon F. Leedale, et al. | Jan 1, 2000. I also have Patterson's book Another book, albeit outdated, is Ward and Whipples Freshwater Biology 2nd edition. These tend to be my references when not browsing the internet.

I never really put any faith in my ability to identify to species rather content myself with the genus.

Your comments regarding the internet and the the snowball effect of an incorrectly identified photo are right on!

einman
Posts: 1508
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2015 1:03 am

Re: New book on my shelf

#10 Post by einman » Sun Jan 31, 2021 1:46 am

I took a look and I actually have a few of the books in hardback form. I have Foissner's paperback vol 3 Monograph.I also have Sleigh's book Protozoa and other Protists..

I have been so involved in entomology as of late, I totally forgot exactly what I had in my microbiology library . Hausmann's Protistology is another fascinating book I added a few years ago.

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