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Keys to the Trematoda. Volume II (ed. Jones, A., Bray, R. A. and Gibson, D. I.), pp. 768. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau International (CABI Publishing), UK and The Natural History Museum, London, UK, 2005. ISBN 0 85199 587 X. £150.00.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2006

TOMÁš SCHOLZ
TOMÁš SCHOLZ
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
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Extract

Trematodes (flukes or digeneans) are by far the most abundant group of parasitic flatworms (Neodermata), and their importance for human and animal health is indisputable. In addition, they exhibit a variety of unique adaptations to parasitism and, probably most remarkably, possess extraordinarily complicated life-cycles. Classification of trematodes represents a very difficult task due to the huge number of existing species and variety of morphological forms, sites of infection within invertebrate and vertebrate hosts and ability to infect a wide spectrum of animals. Therefore, identification of any trematode may represent a problem even for an experienced specialist. This is the reason why I appreciated so much the publication of the first volume of the Keys to the Trematoda in 2002.

Type
Book Review
Information
Parasitology , Volume 132 , Issue 1 , January 2006 , pp. 153 - 154
Copyright
© 2006 Cambridge University Press

The second volume of the Keys appeared a few months ago and continues in the same style as the first volume. This means that the basal taxonomic category considered is a superfamily, with individual families treated as separate units. Each chapter starts with a brief overview of taxonomic history and nomenclatorical and systematic problems of individual genera are commented on. The core of each chapter represents the keys to genera with detailed diagnoses. As in the first volume, the authors of most chapters based their conclusions on their own evaluation of specimens, including types.

The second volume provides keys to superfamilies, families and genera of the order Echinostomida and some of those in the order Plagiorchiida of the subclass Digenea of the class Trematoda. The following superfamilies are included: Echinostomatoidea Looss, 1899; Haploporoidea Nicoll, 1914; Haplosplanchnoidea Poche, 1926; Heronimoidea Ward, 1917; Microscaphidioidea Looss, 1900; Paramphistomoidea Fischoeder, 1901; Pronocephaloidea Looss, 1899; Allocreadioidea Looss, 1902; and Lepocreadioidea Odhner, 1905.

The book was prepared by 17 specialists from Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, India, UK and USA. Most contributors have established world-wide reputations but it is pleasing that some young researchers were also invited. The text has been carefully edited and the editors also substantially contributed to the second volume as authors. The heaviest load was shouldered by Arlene Jones, who completely covered the most complicated and extensive group of this volume, amphistomes (superfamily Paramphistomoidea), in addition to other minor groups, such as liver flukes (Fasciolidae). Besides the editors, a most considerable contribution was made by Aneta Kostadinova from Bulgaria (Echinostomatidae, Cathaemasiidae, part of Liliatremidae) and Tom Cribb and David Blair from Australia with their co-workers.

Since I work on fish helminths, I particularly enjoyed the very detailed and well-illustrated chapters on haploporids (Robin Overstreet and Stephen Curran from USA) and allocreadiids (Janine Caira from USA and Tami Bogéa from Brazil). In general, most chapters are of excellent quality and they should serve as an example of how modern taxonomic papers should look, being based on thorough examination of good-quality specimens.

Just one year after the first volume of the Keys had appeared, a fundamental paper on the systematics and phylogenetic relationships of the Digenea was published (Olson et al. 2003: International Journal for Parasitology 33, 733–755). The authors proposed some substantial changes in the classification of trematodes, including invalidity of the Echinostomida, one of the three orders accepted in the Keys. Conclusions and taxonomic actions proposed by Olson et al. (2003) could not be considered due to shortage of time and because the priority of the Keys was to provide guides for the identification of adult digeneans based on their morphology. The groups, in which classifications inferred from morphological characters and molecules are not congruent, await future investigations.

In reviewing the first volume (Folia Parasitologica 50, 56, 2003), I mentioned the problem of lists of species within each genus. It is obvious that such lists would be extremely helpful but this task is not feasible, for three main reasons. First, preparation of these lists would require a revision of each genus with assessment of taxonomic status of each species, which would take much time. Secondly, there are insufficient specialists with adequate knowledge to cover all trematode groups. Thirdly, addition of species lists would considerably increase the number of pages in the Keys. The larger size of the second volume, compared with the previous one (by 200 pages), is undoubtedly one of the reasons for the high price of the book. However, it will serve as an invaluable source of taxonomic information for helminthologists, veterinarians and zoologists for many years ahead.

It is my pleasure to congratulate the editors for their effort and time spent in editing the book and to all contributors for their excellent work that will facilitate our studies on one of the most numerous and fascinating groups of parasitic animals.