The Waterbug Book - a guide to the freshwater macro-invertebrates of temperate Australia By John Gooderham and Edward Tsyrlin ISBN 0643066683, published in 2002 by CSIRO Publishing, colour, soft cover, 232 pages Price $A44.95 plus $A11 postage within Australia, overseas postage please request a quote

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