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The present monograph carefully revises the taxonomy, nomenclature, and ecology of all nominal species of spathidiids and shows that spathidiid diversity has been greatly underestimated. Based on the reinvestigation of described species with modern methods and the first description of over 50 new species, the family Spathidiidae is split into four families and 20 genera. Each species is described and figured in detail. Two identification keys are provided.

The spathidiids belong to the ciliate subclass Haptoria (Protozoa, Ciliophora), that is, they are predators using toxicysts to overwhelm the prey. Spathidiid ciliates prefer terrestrial and semisterrestrial habitats, but many occur also in freshwater, and some are marine.

Over 200 nominal spathidiid species have been described, sometimes based on seemingly minute differences. Thus, many protozoologists considered them as indeterminable and claimed for a detailed revision. The present monograph carefully revises the taxonomy, nomenclature, and ecology of all nominal species...