Sites and Sources

The following is a partial list of texts and online sites that are helpful for identifying and researching protists.

General resources

Adl et al., 2019 The most recent version of a complete classification of eukaryotes, sponsored by the International Society of Protistologists.

Biodiversity Heritage Library A magnificent repository of older materials. If it’s in the public domain, and has something to do with biology, it’s probably here. The breadth and organization of the database is staggering. You can search the database by organism name, and the software will return a list of documents in which the organism is mentioned. If you wish, it will take you directly to the particular pages of the work in which that organism is discussed. Donations to BHL are tax-deductible.

Google Scholar A good first stop in a literature search. Google Scholar indexes literature across a wide range of disciplines and sources. It can give direct access to academic papers, theses, books, abstracts, professional societies, online repositories, universities, and other websites.

The Illustrated Guide to the Protozoa A two-volume compendium issued by ISOP in 2000.

NIES World of Protozoa An indispensable site, built by Dr. Xu Kaiqin and hosted at the National Institute for Environmental Studies, in Japan. The site includes a very large database of morphological genus and species descriptions, lifted from various articles and books (a numbered list of the source texts under “8. Reference” in the main menu of the site). I don’t know whether this constitutes “fair use” of copyrighted materials, but it is certainly very convenient to have written descriptions gathered together in one place. The taxonomy is fairly up-to-date.

Protocols in Protozoology A compendium of methods and procedures, published in 1992. The International Society of Protistologists now offers this as a free download. Thank them by joining the Society!

Protist Information Server A database containing (as of today) 81,037 images and movies of protists. The pictures are not always of the highest quality, and the taxonomy is inconsistent. Specimens are occasionally misidentified. Still, it’s a great resource for identification, and often the only online site providing pictures of certain taxa.

Ciliates

Alfred Kahl’s Wimpertiere oder Ciliata (Infusoria) is a classic four-volume revision of the ciliates. The taxonomy is out of date, but this richly illustrated work remains extremely useful for identification and classification. Under German law, it entered the public domain in 2015 (70 years after Kahl’s death). Some years ago, I scanned my copy of the book, for my own use, and I have made the scan available for download on Internet Archive:

Alfred Kahl, Wimpertiere oder Ciliata Vol. I General Section and Prostomata (1930)

Alfred Kahl, Wimpertiere oder Ciliata Vol. II Holotricha (1931)

Alfred Kahl, Wimpertiere oder Ciliata Vol. III Spirotricha (1932)

Alfred Kahl, Wimpertiere oder Ciliata Vol. IV Peritricha and Chonotricha (1935)

Publications of Wilhelm Foissner. He was the most important and productive ciliate taxonomist of his age, and shortly before his death, in 2020, Wilhelm Foissner made his life’s work (both monographs and papers) freely accessible on his personal website.

Classic Taxonomic Monographs from the Aquaparadox Project An extensive collection of monographs on marine planktonic protists: tintinnids, diatoms, dinoflagellates and more, from l’Observatoire Océanologique de Villefranche-sur-Mer.

Eugène Penard, 1922. Etudes sur les Infusoires d’eau Douce

Image Gallery from l’Observatoire Océanologique de Villefranche-sur-Mer Images of planktonic protists, particularly tintinnid ciliates and dinoflagellates.

Amoebae

Microworld: World of Amoeboid Organisms Ferry Siemensma’s superb site. Beautiful, and beautifully organized.

Amoebae on the Web Alexey Smirnov’s site. A rich and reliable source.

The Amoebae Sutherland Maciver’s site at U. of Edinburgh.

Penard.de: The Fascinating World of Amoeboid Organisms. A beautiful gallery of images by Ecki Voelcker and Steffen Clauß. The site is dedicated to the memory of the great Swiss amoebologist Eugène Penard.

Schalenamöben A terrific collection of information and images on testate amoebae, by Hans Rothauscher.

Cash, Hopkinson & Wailes, 1905-21. The British Freshwater Rhizopoda and Heliozoa

Joseph Leidy, 1879. Fresh-water Rhizopods of North America

Eugène Penard, 1902. Faune Rhizopodique du bassin du Léman

Professional societies

Interrnational Society of Protistologists (ISOP). ISOP was the original publisher of the Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology (now published by Wiley), as well as the compendious 2-volume Illustrated Guide to the Protozoa.

International Society of Evolutionary Protistologists (ISEP)
International Society for Testate Amoeba Research (ISTAR)

Journals

Acta Protozoologica
European Journal of Protistology
Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology
Protist (formerly Archiv für Protistenkunde)
Protistology An international journal

Booksellers

Scientia Books Specializing in Medicine, Science, History of Medicine, History of Science, Evolution and Genetics. An extremely helpful and honest dealer.