Dr. James H. Thorp is a professor and senior scientist at the University of Kansas (Lawrence, KS, United States). Prior to 2001, he was a distinguished professor and dean at Clarkson University, department chair and professor at the University of Louisville, associate professor and director of the Calder Ecology Center at Fordham University, and research ecologist at Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. He received his Baccalaureate from the University of Kansas and Masters and PhD degrees from North Carolina State. Prof. Thorp has been on the editorial board of three freshwater journals and is a former president of the International Society for River Science. His research interests run the gamut from organismal biology to community, ecosystem, and macrosystem ecology. While his research emphasizes aquatic invertebrates, he also studies fish ecology, especially food webs related. He has published more than 150 research articles and 10 books, including five volumes so far in the fourth edition of Thorp and Covich’s Freshwater Invertebrates.Dr. D. Christopher Rogers is a research zoologist at the University of Kansas with the Kansas Biological Survey and is affiliated with the Biodiversity Institute, with numerous research projects all over the world. He received his PhD degree from the University of New England in Armidale, NSW, Australia. Christopher specializes in freshwater and terrestrial crustaceans (particularly Branchiopoda and Malacostraca) and the invertebrate fauna of seasonally astatic wetlands on a global scale. He has more than 150 peer-reviewed publications in crustaceantaxonomy and invertebrate ecology, as well as published popular and scientific field guides and identification manuals to freshwater invertebrates. Christopher is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Crustacean Biology and a founding member of the Southwest Association of Freshwater Invertebrate Taxonomists. He has been involved in aquatic invertebrate conservation efforts all over the world.

"IAN'S RECOMMENDATION: For anyone interested in the freshwater animals of North America." --The Guardian’s Punctuated Equilibrium"The strength of this text lies in the narratives describing the form, function, ecology, and collection methods associated with each major group. Consequently, the book is more of a primer or an introduction to freshwater invertebrates, than a field guide. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and general readers." --Choice, September 2011, Vol. 49, No. 01

• 1. Using This Book Effectively2. General Techniques for Collecting and Identification3. The Nature of Inland Water Habitats4. A Primer on Ecological Relationships Among Freshwater Invertebrates5. Sponges: Phylum Porifera6. Hydra and Jellyfish: Phylum Cnidari7. Flatworms: Phylum Platyhelminthes, Class Turbellaria8. Hairworms: Phylum Nematomorpha9. Snails: Phylum Mollusca, Class Gastropoda10. Mussels and Clams: Phylum Mollusca, Class Bivalvia 11. Aquatic Segmented Worms and Leeches: Phylum Annelida12. Moss Animals: Phylum Ectoprocta, or Bryozoa13. Introduction to Freshwater Invertebrates in the Phylum Arthropoda14. Mites and Spiders: Subphylum Chelicerata, Class Arachnida15. Fairy Shrimp, Tadpole Shrimp, Clam Shrimp, and Water Fleas: Subphylum Crustacea, Class Branchiopoda 16. Copepods, Fish Lice, and Seed Shrimp: Subphylum Crustacea, Classes Maxillopoda and Ostracoda 17. Aquatic Sow Bugs, Scuds, and Opossum Shrimp: Subphylum Crustacea, Class Malacostraca, Superorder Peracarida 18. Crayfish, Crabs, and Shrimp: Subphylum Crustacea, Class Malacostraca, Order Decapoda 19. Introduction to Insects and Their Near Relatives: Subphylum Hexapoda20. Mayflies: Insect Order Ephemeroptera21. Dragonflies and Damselflies: Insect Order Odonata22. Stoneflies: Insect Order Plecoptera23. True Bugs: Insect Order Hemiptera24. Hellgrammites, Spongillaflies, Caterpillars, and Others: Minor Aquatic Insect Orders 25. Caddisflies: Insect Order Trichoptera26. Beetles: Insect Order Coleoptera27. Midges, Mosquitoes, Blackflies, and Other True Flies: Insect Order Diptera