ALBERT

Description: The uranium concentrations in marine calcareous material of a biological origin varied between 0.0X and 0.X p.p.m. with the exception of corals which had concentrations of several p.p.m. The aragonitic oolites and aragonite precipitated from sea-water had values similar to those of the corals. A geochronology based on the growth of ionium (thorium-230) from uranium is applicable not only to corals, as previous investigators have pointed out, but also to oolites. Several examples of "oolite ages" are given. The uranium content of ferromanganese minerals from pelagic deposits is of the order of from 4 to 5 p.p.m.

Description: The cores and dredges described in this report were taken during the Swedish Deep Sea Expedition from July 1947 until October 1948 aboard the S/S Albatross (Boström). A total of 370 cores and trawls during this World circumnavigation.

Description: Compared with their New World relatives of the subfamily Cyprinodontinae, the Old World Cyprinodonts are but little known. However, some interesting accounts on Turkish species, discovered by Kosswig, S\xc3\xb6zer and Aksiray, have recently been published. Besides the species known, several new forms and species are described.\nWhile compiling an account on these fishes suitable for the home aquarium (Hoedeman & Bronner, 1950\xe2\x80\x941951), we felt some characters need reexamination, not only of Aphanius, but also of the North African genus Tellia which is said to differ from Aphanius only in the absence of ventral fins.

Description: Le processus pr\xc3\xa9oral est court. L\xe2\x80\x99\xc5\x93il migrateur d\xc3\xa9passe le bord ant\xc3\xa9rieur de l\xe2\x80\x99\xc5\x93il fixe de plus de la moiti\xc3\xa9 de son propre diam\xc3\xa8tre. La narine exhalante z\xc3\xa9nithale est pr\xc3\xa9sente. La l\xc3\xa8vre mandibulare z\xc3\xa9nithale est hypertrophi\xc3\xa9e en un petit nombre de larges processus nullement cili\xc3\xa9s. Ko\xce\xbc\xcf\x88\xc3\xb2s, \xc3\xa9l\xc3\xa9gant; \xce\xbc\xce\xb5wia\xce\xbca, sourire.

Description: In an adult female of the common eel Anguilla anguilla a large lipoma was found, situated on the left side, caudally of the left operculum. Microscopically, the tumour, which originated from the subcutaneous connective tissue, was composed of areas of adipose tissue and areas of fibrous connective tissue.\nThe tumour belongs to the fibrolipomatous type and shows a striking resemblance with the lipoma, described by Stolk (in press) in the lizard Lacerta muralis.

Description: Twenty-one species of Distichopora have been described after specimens from various localities in the Indo-Pacific region, viz., D. violacea (Pallas, 1766) from \xe2\x80\x9cMare Indicum\xe2\x80\x9d, D. cinnabarina Nardo, 1844, from the Red Sea (?), D. gracilis Dana, 1848, from the Tuamotu Islands, D. coccinea Gray, 1860, from New Caledonia, D. fulvacea Michelin, 1862, from R\xc3\xa9union, D. nitida Verrill, 1864, from the Marshall Islands, D. rosea Kent, 1871, from the East coast of Australia, D. purpurea Schmeltz, 1875 (nomen nudum), from the Marshall Islands (?), D. irregularis Moseley, 1879, from the Philippine Islands, D. livida Tenison-Woods, 1879, from the Solomon Islands, D. brasseyi Wright, 1882, from the Gilbert Islands, D. allnutti Wright, 1882, from the Gilbert Islands (?), D. breviserialis Quelch, 1884, from unknown locality, D. milesii Quelch, 1884, from the Pacific (probably from the region of the Society and Tuamotu Islands), D. granulosa Quelch, 1885, from Rarotonga (?), D. conferta Quelch, 1885, from Rarotonga, D. ochracea Quelch, 1885, from the Solomon Islands, D. profunda Hickson & England, 1909, from the Chagos Archipelago, D. borealis Fisher, 1938, from the Aleutian Islands, D. fisheri Broch, 1942, from the Fiji Islands, and D. serpens Broch, 1942, from the Philippine Islands. Most of the described species came from shallow water, only three species were collected from great depths, viz., D. profunda (187\xe2\x80\x94274 m), D. borealis (518\xe2\x80\x94881 m), and D. serpens (91\xe2\x80\x94183 m). The type specimen of D. irregularis came from a depth of 10 fathoms (18 m).\nTo the species enumerated above should be added D. providentiae (Hickson & England, 1909) from off Providence Island in the Western Indian Ocean, collected at a depth of 125 fathoms (228 m). This species was originally placed in the genus Sporadopora, but the manner of arrangement of the gastropores and the dactylopores indicate that it presents at least some affinity to the genus Distichopora, and accordingly it may provisionally find a place here.

Description: The main purpose of this study is to search for an explanation of the curious differentiation within the genus Chamaeleo. Since the species of this genus are rather doubtful units, I have studied the geograpical distribution of characters, not of the species, a method first used in botany (BAUR, ROTHMALER a.o.). I found that the number of characters is largest in east Afrika, gradually decreasing from this area to the periphery of the total range of the genus. East Africa proved to be still more important, as practically all the characters occur in it. This means that the chameleons in the other areas practically never possess characters that are not found in east Africa.\nThis pattern of distribution fits in rather well with REINIG\xe2\x80\x99S elimination theory (1938): \xe2\x80\x9e.. bei Einzelwanderungen wird nur ein Teil des gesamten Allelbestandes einer Art mitgef\xc3\xbchrt... eine durch Einzelwanderung entstandene Population weist eine geringere Zahl von Allelen auf als die Ausgangspopulation.\xe2\x80\x9d The existence of many parallel series of variation (meaning that several characters originated several times independently in different groups) led me to the conclusion that the mechanism described in REINIG\xe2\x80\x99S theory as elimination, has consequences also for the genes predisposed to change into others.\nThis reasoning gave a key to the reconstruction of the ancestral chameleon. By two different ways I arrived at the same conclusion, viz. the ancestral chameleon was probably an animal resembling mostly Chamaeleo chamaeleon s.l. (\xc2\xa7 21).\nAs for this theoretical part of my study a survey of the species was needed, I first made an attempt at a natural system. I have divided the genus into groups of related species. For practical reasons the chameleons of Madagascar are treated separately. Their connections with the species of the African continent are examined in a special section (\xc2\xa7 11).\nAs a result of my investigations I had to propose the following taxonomic changes: Ch. rhinoceratus var. lineatus + Ch. labordi + Ch. voeltzkowi + Ch. barbouri = Ch. rhinoceratus (\xc2\xa7 3), Ch. lambertoni = Ch. lateralis (\xc2\xa7 4), Ch. semicristatus = \xe2\x99\x80 Ch. verrucosus (\xc2\xa7 5), Ch. guibei nov. spec. (\xc2\xa7 6), Ch. calcarifer = Ch. chamaeleon calcarifer, Ch. zeylanicus = Ch. chamaeleon zeylanicus, Ch. etiennei = Ch. gracilis etiennei (\xc2\xa7 12), Ch. anchietae vinkei + Ch. anchietae mertensi + Ch. marunguensis = Ch. anchietae (\xc2\xa7 13), Ch. unicornis = Ch. oweni unicornis (\xc2\xa7 14), Ch. pumilus = Ch. pumilus pumilus, Ch. melanocephalus = Ch. pumilus melanocephalus, Ch. gutturalis = Ch. pumilus gutturalis, Ch. ventralis = Ch. pumilus ventralis, Ch. ventralis occidentalis = Ch. pumilus occidentalis, Ch. ventralis karrooicus = Ch. pumilus karrooicus, Ch. damaranus = Ch. pumilus damaranus, Ch. caffer = Ch. pumilus caffer, Ch. taeniobronchus = Ch. pumilus taeniobronchus. (\xc2\xa7 16).

Description: The present short paper forms a continuation of my partial revision of certain species of the genus Bactra (Zool. Verhand., no. 29, 1956). It is chiefly based on a revision of the entire material of Bactra in the collection of the well-known specialist of Microlepidoptera, Dr. H. G. AMSEL, Karlsruhe, Germany; along with the new material of the genus from Irak, and that from Afghanistan, of the German Afghanistan Expedition 1956, collected by Dr. AMSEL himself and entrusted to me for identification. Besides, interesting material was received from Mr. TOSHIIO OKU, Sapporo, Japan, and from some other sources. The author gratefully acknowledges the kind help of the senders, and their permission to retain certain duplicates for the collection of the Leiden Museum.\nSince the publication of my above mentioned paper a few errors were detected and some alterations became necessary. They will be found below, together with descriptions of five new species and one subspecies, and records or notes on some 15 already known species, with five new synonyms.