The Free Living Nematodes of the Mediterranean III. The Balearic Islands

In June 1932 my friend Prof. Dr. G. C. Hirsch made some biological studies at the marine biological laboratory of Palma di Mallorca. He was accompanied by Dr. E. Ries, at that time Rockefeller Fellow. Both did collect for me some samples of marine sediments from which I have picked out the freeliving marine nematodes for further study. In the same year Dr. A. Oosterbaan made an excursion to Ibiza together with some other geological students and brought home from there for me some samples of mud with marine nematodes. The result of the 3 mentioned small collections, of which that of Hirsch is the most important, will be given in this paper. Next to a comparatively great number of typical mediterranean marine nematodes, a restricted number has a more cosmopolitic distribution. We may, however, say that in view of the great number of forms, which in their distribution apparently are restricted to the mediterranean and therefore should be considered as typical forms of that region, this intracontinental sea possesses a nemic fauna, which is more or less isolated and as to its composition probably is hardly influenced by foreign intruders from the Atlantic. Of more importance I think are intruders from the Black Sea and eventually from the Red Sea. All three mentioned collections comprise 310 specimens, belonging to 36 species. Distributed over the orders and families we get the following list: Enoploidea Family Leptosomatidae: Anticoma acuminata (Eberth). Family Oxystomatidae: Halalaimus longicauda Allgén, Trefusia filum nov. spec. Family Enoplidae: Enoplus meridionalis Steiner.