TARDIGRADE LITERATURE

As with any biological project one must first find the general, basic knowledge of the subject upon which to build observations and develop questions. Three major references for tardigrades are available today. The first, Fresh-Water Invertebrates of the United States (Pennak 1978) provides a good general overview and simple key but was published 20 years ago and is not taxonomically current. The second, Il Philum Tardigrada (Ramazzoti & Maucci 1983) is the last monograph that attempted to list and describe all known species. It is in Italian but an English translation is available. Finally the third, The Biology of Tardigrades (Kinchin 1994) provides an updated summary of the state of knowledge and theory of tardigrades but does not describe species. All three have good bibliographies.

Most libraries will have journals such as Invertebrate Biology that have published papers about tardigrades. In the last twenty years, six international symposia devoted to tardigrades have been held. The third (Nelson 1982), the fourth (Bertolani 1987), and the sixth (McInnes & Norman 1996) have produced excellent volumes from the papers presented. Copies of published articles are generally available from living tardigradologists for the cost of a polite letter.