This book contains full descriptions of all the ring nematodes (484 species) reported from everywhere in the world that belong to the family Criconematidae, order Tylenchida. They are plant parasites living in het soil and so they have an economic importance. This book is amply illustrated with line drawings and SEM photographs that are based on microscopic and sub-microscopic observations. AUTHOR: Etienne Geraert was Zoology Professor at Ghent University, Belgium. From 1974 till 1998 he was also Associate Editor of the International Journal Nematologica (now Nematology) where he was responsible for the articles on morphology and taxonomy. He has already published a book on the morphology of the order Tylenchida and four books on the identification of plant-parasitic nematodes of the families Tylenchidae, Criconematidae, Dolichodoridae and Pratylenchidae. From 1990 till 2002 he was Director of the Master's Course in Nematology at Ghent University. 406 b/w images

This book contains 22 chapters on various aspects of freshwater nematode ecology and taxonomy. Subjects covered include the techniques for processing freshwater nematodes, the composition and distribution of free living freshwater nematodes, their abundance, biomass and diversity, the production of freshwater nematodes, their feeding ecology, patterns in size structure of freshwater nematode communities, different nematode habitats, and computation and application of nematode community indices. It provides descriptions with figures of each taxon at the genus level and above to currently valid genera. For every genus, a complete list of species, with an emphasis on biogeography, is given for primarily freshwater taxa and a list of only those species reported from freshwater bodies is given for the genera that are considered primarily non-freshwater. This book is intended to provide a useful reference to students, beginners and established researchers in the field of freshwater nematology, benthologists, invertebrate biologists, limnologists, ecologists, microbiologists and soil biologists.