Supplying sustenance for millions of the poorest people in the world, freshwater flora and fauna also contribute to overall economic well-being by means of export commodity trade, tourism, and recreation. As sources of high-quality nutrients, freshwater flora and fauna of edible value represent a viable option for alleviating the problems related to malnutrition in developing and underdeveloped countries.

Although the nutritional benefits of freshwater flora and fauna are well known, there has long been a need for a book that supplies an assessment of their nutritional qualities. Well-illustrated with approximately 325 photographs, this book fills that need. Nutritional Freshwater Life details the characteristics of more than 300 species of nutritionally important freshwater animals and plants.

The book covers algae and plants, crustaceans (prawns, crayfish, and crabs), mollusks (bivalves and gastropods), fish, and frogs. For each species of freshwater life identified, the book provides a photograph and details its characteristics such as scientific name, common names, habitats, global distribution, nutritional facts, and biological features.