The present guide covers the somewhat imprecisely defined district of Galway known as Connemara (Iar - Chonnacht) and south Mayo where yearly rainfall is exceptionally high (c. 1500mm) and winters are comparatively mild. Lying 5 km off County Mayo in Clew Bay is Clare Island, an island included because of its special significance as the focus of the earliest major biological survey of any specific area of the world.
The present guide focuses on those desmids in standing water, ranging from small boggy pools through to large loughs as well those associated with areas of freshwater seepage.
Detailed descriptions and keys.