I have written this book because there is, as in almost all supraspecific ciliate taxa, an ur gent need for an up-to-date revision of the oxytrichids, which are common in terrestrial, limnetic, and marine biotopes. The last comprehensive, illustrated guides to this group of hypotrichs were provided by KAHL (1932) and SmLER (1974b); however, as regards syn onymy and faunistics, these works are outdated and not as detailed as EHRENBERG'S out standing book from 1838. In KAHL's revision, the oxytrichids sensu stricto are described on about 30 pages, whereas in the present book the systematic section comprises about 830 pages. This extraordinary increase in page number is mainly due to the following points: (i) Species number increased from about SO in KAHL to about 170 in the present book. (ii) KAHL usually provided only a single illustration of each species, whereas almost all published illustrations on oxytrichid ciliates are included in my book. (iii) Modern, phylogenetic systematics of oxytrichids without morphogenetic data is impossible; conse quentlY,·almost all detailed descriptions, usually dealing with the type species, have been included. (iv) Synonymy is discussed, and not only mentioned, as is unfortunately usual.

Klappentext

The monophylum Oxytrichidae (Ciliophora, Hypotrichia) contains freshwater-, marine-, and soil-dwelling species. Some taxa are extremely widespread in freshwater (e.g. Oxytricha, Stylonychia) or in terrestrial habitats (e.g. Gonostomum). Oxytricha and Stylonychia have been used for many molecular, ultrastructural, and genetic investigations. This is the first book since Ehrenberg's (1838) monumental work to summarize the morphological, morphogenetic, faunistic, and ecological data from the past 220 years, scattered in more than 2500 references from all over the world. One central dichotomous key leads directly to 32 genera comprising about 169 species, which are illustrated by more than 2400 figures, including original ones. Taxonomists, ecologists, limnologists, soil biologists, and cell biologists will find a list of synonyms, a discussion of nomenclatural and taxonomic problems, and a detailed morphological and ecological description, including almost all published faunistic records. This enables both the specialist and the practitioner to determine species without referring back to the original literature. The book offers the interested scientist a thorough and up-to-date revision of the oxytrichids.

Zusammenfassung
Summarizes the morphological, morphogenetic, faunistic, and ecological data. This book provides a list of synonyms, a discussion of nomenclatural and taxonomic problems, and a morphological and ecological description, including faunistic records.

Inhalt
A General Section.- B Systematic Section.- Addenda.- References.- Systematic Index.- Table Index.