Guides to the freshwater invertebrates of southern Africa
Preface to part 1 (Crustacea)
This taxonomic guide book is one of a series that includes keys to most of the fresh and brackish water invertebrates in Southern Africa. The paucity of identification guides suitable for non-specialists has become a yawning gap in the tools available to scientists, managers and scholars concerned with the assessment and management of water resources. It is hoped that the present guides will be of value to these and other users, and that the environment will benefit as a result. The principle aim of this series is therefore to synthesise much of the existing knowledge on freshwater invertebrate taxonomy into a standard format which is accessible to users who wish to identify taxa beyond their field of expertise.
It is a truism that taxonomic guides are perpetually out of date, particularly in terms of changes to nomenclature, due to advances in systematics. To keep abreast with new distribution records as well as nomenclature changes, readers are referred to the Checklist of Aquatic Insects and Mites. There is also a possibility that the present series will be periodically revised, but this is contingent on future funding.
Identification of taxa to species level is the ideal to which we would like to strive, but for a number of reasons this is not usually possible: the present knowledge of taxa does not often permit such detailed identification, and in instances where taxa are well-known, identification to such a fine resolution is usually constrained by space considerations and cost effectiveness. In some instances, particularly for small, relatively well-researched groups such as the fresh-water molluscs, taxa have however been identified to species-level. Since new species are constantly being discovered, users of these guides are cautioned against attempting to "make" unusual specimens "fit" existing keys to species-level. Users are encouraged to inform experts of such specimens, to take note of new distribution records, and to lodge all collections with well-known museums, particularly the Albany Museum in Grahamstown which houses the national collection of freshwater invertebrates.
This series includes an initial Introductory Book containing general information and a key to the families of invertebrates. Subsequent books contain keys to different invertebrate groups, most often logically clustered together but, in some instances the need for cost-effectiveness has resulted in the creation of some rather uncomfortable "bedfellows", such as the arachnids and molluscs which are combined in Book 6.
The books in the series are the culmination of years of effort by a large number of people and organisations: Shirley Bethune, Jenny Day, Barbara Stewart, Nancy Rainer and Maitland Seaman started the project in 1986; Jenny Day, Bryan Davies and Jackie King initiated contact with authors and began the editing process; a decade later, Chris Dickens successfully obtained funding from the Water Research Commission for the completion of the project, and later took on the job of Project Leader; Steve Mitchell managed the project from the Water Research Commission, and Irene de Moor was contracted to take on the job of managing editor from 1998. All of those above (with the exception of Nancy Rayner) as well as Ferdy de Moor, Mark Chutter, Lil Haigh, Arthur Harrison, Rob Hart and Martin Villet, are part of the Editorial Board which was initially formed in 1998.
Numerous authors, including those in this book, have contributed time and expertise towards the drafting of the keys. The original authors were not paid for their efforts, which were given in the true spirit of science and a love for their work.
A small donation from the Zoological Society of South Africa helped to initiate this project but the series is largely a product of the Southern African Society of Aquatic Scientists (SASAQS) whose members are acknowledged for their support.
Umgeni Water, the Albany Museum and the Water Research Commission have given organisational support to the final stages of the publication.
Chris Dickens, Steve Mitchell & Irene de Moor
