The Ostracoda


Book Description

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 131. Scientists generally acknowledge that the reconstruction of past environments requires the use of multiple indicators or proxies. Biological remains, which figure prominently in many studies, offer different values for different purposes. Whereas scientists frequently use and well understand some biological proxies, for example, the foraminifers in marine environments and pollen grains in terrestrial settings, other biological proxies are underutilised. In this book, we focus on one such indicator of Quaternary paleoenvironmental phenomena: the ostracods or, as they are sometimes known, ostracodes. Ostracods are small aquatic crustaceans that secrete shells or valves made of calcite, which are often preserved in Quaternary sediments. In addition to providing a complementary line of evidence in multi-proxy investigations, ostracods have a number of specific advantages as biological proxies. First, they are sensitive to a range of ecological variables, such as habitat type and water composition. Second, their shells can be used in geochemical and isotope analyses and, because shell secretion is a rapid process, the results provide a "snapshot" of water conditions. Third, ostracods are often preserved in environments where other important biological proxies are not; in alkaline environments, for example, ostracods are well preserved, yet diatoms tend to be dissolved. Thus, we seek to encourage Quaternary scientists working both in marine and non-marine environments to make more routine use of ostracods in their work.




Gulf of Mexico Origin, Waters, and Biota


Book Description

This landmark scientific reference for scientists, researchers, and students of marine biology tackles the monumental task of taking a complete biodiversity inventory of the Gulf of Mexico with full biotic and biogeographic information. Presenting a comprehensive summary of knowledge of Gulf biota through 2004, the book includes seventy-seven chapters, which list more than fifteen thousand species in thirty-eight phyla or divisions and were written by 138 authors from seventy-one institutions in fourteen countries.This first volume of Gulf of Mexico Origin, Waters, and Biota, a multivolumed set edited by John W. Tunnell Jr., Darryl L. Felder, and Sylvia A. Earle, provides information on each species' habitat, biology, and geographic range, along with full references and a narrative introduction to the group, which opens each chapter.










Bridging the Gap


Book Description







Crustacea


Book Description

Ostracoda are small, mostly 0.3-5 mm long crustaceans the body of which is totally enclosed within a carapace consisting of two calcified valves. Only the tips of various appendages protrude through the narrow gap when the valves open. Ostracods are found living in both marine and non-marine environments. They occur in almost every type of freshwater habitats, whether permanent or temporary, epigean or hypogean, stagnant or flowing. They colonize springs, ditches and canals, (rock)pools, slow rivers, man made basins, the aquatic interstitial habitats, cave waters, ponds and lakes where they are found from the shallow littoral down to the great depths of the profundal zone. A number of species are ecologically specialized and are considered indicators of various environmental conditions, mainly temperature, depth and salinity. The present work provides a practical guide to the freshwater and slightly brackish water species recorded in western and central Europe from the British Isles and the northern half of France to the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Keys to all taxa are given. The treatment of each of the 158 species recorded includes descriptions and illustrations of both the carapace and appendages as well as summaries of the ecology, life history, distribution and fossil record. It should be of value to both beginners and experienced workers, freshwater biologists and ecologists.