This important and extensive volume presents part of the Proceedings of the Fourth International Crustacean Congress held in Amsterdam in 1998. As the title implies, 'Crustaceans and the Biodiversity Crisis' was the general, underlying theme of all contributions at the congress. With the turn of the century, someone ought to 'assess the balance' of our natural environment and of the various branches of biology that study its rapidly declining diversity. From the five subthemes covered at the conference, those of (1) Diversity in Time and Space (including Systematics, Phylogeny, and Palaeontology), (2b) Biogeography, (3c) Larvae, and (4) Physiology and Biochemistry (including Molecular Biology and Genetics) are represented in this volume, along with a few contributions from other subthemes (e.g. (2a) Invasive Crustacea, (3a) Ecology, (3b) Behaviour, and (5) Fisheries and Aquaculture). The book is primarily meant for scientists working at institutes involved in research on the group (Crustacea: marine, freshwater, or terrestrial) and/or the disciplines covered. Individual carcinologists working on one of the themes discussed in this volume, will find a wealth of interesting and timely contributions, as will other scientists working in marine or freshwater biology or in soil ecology.

The papers in this volume have been grouped according to the main sub-themes of the congress and primarily deal with the biodiversity issues of invasive crustacea, ecology and behaviour and fisheries and aquaculture.

This important and extensive volume presents part of the Proceedings of the Fourth International Crustacean Congress held in Amsterdam in 1998. As the title implies, 'Crustaceans and the Biodiversity Crisis' was the general, underlying theme of all contributions at the congress. With the turn of the century, someone ought to 'assess the balance' of our natural environment and of the various branches of biology that study its rapidly declining diversity. From the five subthemes covered at the conference, those of (1) "Diversity in Time and Space" (including Systematics, Phylogeny, and Palaeontology), (2b) "Biogeography," (3c) "Larvae," and (4) "Physiology and Biochemistry" (including Molecular Biology and Genetics) are represented in this volume, along with a few contributions from other subthemes (e.g. (2a) "Invasive Crustacea," (3a) "Ecology," (3b) "Behaviour," and (5) "Fisheries and Aquaculture"). The book is primarily meant for scientists working at institutes involved in research on the group (Crustacea: marine, freshwater, or terrestrial) and/or the disciplines covered. Individual carcinologists working on one of the themes discussed in this volume, will find a wealth of interesting and timely contributions, as will other scientists working in marine or freshwater biology or in soil ecology.

Recent Advances in Freshwater Crustacean Biodiversity and Conservation focuses on minor crustacean groups and regionally endemic groups, all from freshwaters. Chapters in this book cover crustaceans such as Maxillopods, Mysids, Cumaceans, Isopods, Amphipods, Branchiopods, Copepods, and Decapods. Each looks at global or regional fauna and discusses conservation issues for that group. The majority of the chapters are based on papers presented at symposia organized by the editors at two international scientific meetings held in Barcelona and Washington DC. The contributors are world-renowned experts on their groups, as well as on freshwater crustacean conservation and biodiversity at global levels. It has previously been difficult for conservation managers, NGOs, and university professors and students who may not have access to comprehensive journal subscriptions to find relevant information on diversity and conservation of freshwater crustaceans. This book meets that need, addressing crustacean groups not previously treated and providing additional information beyond any presented in existing books. As the editors write in their introduction: we cannot conserve and we cannot protect what we do not know exists. This is a reliable, cutting-edge reference for anybody involved in crustacean research: students, researchers, agencies, and NGOs, as well as science educators, conservationists, and government conservation policymakers. The book will also be useful for those working in aquaculture and fisheries, given that many of the taxa discussed are economically important.

This book introduces updated information on conservation issues, providing an overview of what is needed to advance the global conservation of freshwater decapods such as freshwater crabs, crayfish, and shrimps. Biodiversity loss in general is highest in organisms that depend on intact freshwater habitats, because freshwater ecosystems worldwide are suffering intense threats from multiple sources. Our understanding of the number and location of threatened species of decapods, and of the nature of their extinction threats has improved greatly in recent years, and has enabled the development of species conservation strategies. This volume focuses on saving threatened species from extinction, and emphasizes the importance of the successful implementation of conservation action plans through cooperation between scientists, conservationists, educators, funding agencies, policy makers, and conservation agencies.

As evident from the number 4A tagged to this volume, vol. 4 as originally planned had to be split into two fascicles, 4A and 4B, simply because of the numbers of pages covered by the various contributions meant for volume 4. The present volume, then, comprises the fourth part in the series The Crustacea, i.e., the revised and updated texts from the Traité de Zoologie – Crustacea. The chapters in this book grew out of those in the French edition volume 7(II). The exception is chapter 49, which has been newly conceived; it was never published in French. Overall, this constitutes the sixth tome published in this English series, viz., preceded by volumes 1 (2004), 2 (2006), 9A (2010), 9B (2012), and 3 (2012). Readers/users should note that we have had to abandon publishing the chapters in the serial sequence as originally conceived by the late Prof. J. Forest, because the various contributions, i.e., both the updates and the entirely new chapters, have become available in a more or less random order. This fourth volume, part A, of The Crustacea contains chapters on: • Genetic variability in Crustacea • Class Cephalocarida • Class Remipedia • Subclass Hoplocarida: order Stomatopoda • Superorder Syncarida

Crustaceans adapt to a wide variety of habitats and ways of life. They have a complex physiological structure particularly with regard to the processes of growth (molting), metabolic regulation, and reproduction. Crustaceans are ideal as model organisms for the study of endocrine disruption and stress physiology in aquatic invertebrates. This book