PSAMMONALIA

Newsletter of the International Association of Meiobenthologists

Number 115, February 1997

Composed and Printed at The University of Gent, Department of Morphology - Systematics and Ecology, Marine Biology Section, K.L. Ledeganckstr. 35, B-9000 Gent, Belgium.

Meiofauna admiring the birth of a new nematode

This Newsletter is not part of the scientific literature for taxonomic purposes

Executive Committee

Magda Vincx, Chairperson,
Ann Vanreusel, Treasurer,
Paul A. Montagna, Past Chairperson, Marine Science Institute, University of Texas at Port Aransas, P.O. Box 1267, Port Aransas TX 78373, USA
Robert Feller, Assistant Treasurer and Past Treasurer, Belle Baruch Institute for Marine Science and Coastal Research, University of South Carolina, Columbia SC 29208, USA
Gunter Arlt, Term Expires 2001, Rostock University, Department.of Biology, Rostock D18051, GERMANY
Teresa Radziejewska, Term Expires 1998, Interoceanmetal Joint Organization, ul. Cyryla I Metodego 9, 71-541 Szczecin, POLAND
Yoshihisa Shirayama, Term Expires 1998, Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, 1-15-1 Minamidai, Nakano-Ku, Tokyo 164, JAPAN
James Ward, Term Expires 1998, Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523 USA

Ex-Officio Executive Committee (Past Chairpersons)

Robert P. Higgins, Founding Editor, 1966-67
W. Duane Hope 1968-69
John S. Gray 1970-71
Wilfried Westheide 1972-73
Bruce C. Coull 1974-75
Jeanne Renaud-Mornant 1976-77
William D. Hummon 1978-79
Robert P. Higgins 1980-81
Carlo Heip 1982-83
Olav Giere 1984-86
John W. Fleeger 1987-89
Richard M. Warwick 1990-92
Paul A. Montagna 1993-1995

Board of Correspondents

Bruce Coull, Belle Baruch Institute for Marine Science and Coastal Research, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
Dan Danielopol, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Limnology, A-5310 Mondsee, Gaisberg 116, Austria
Roberto Danovaro, Facolta de Scienze, Universita di Ancona, ITALY
Nicole Gourbault, Museum Nat. Hist. Nat., Bim - 57 rue Curie, Paris, 75231 Paris 5, FRANCE
Andrew Gooday, Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, Wormley, Godalming, Surrey, GU8 5UB, UK
Duane Hope, Department of Invertebrate Zoology, National Museum Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA
Tom Moens, University of Gent, Marine Biology Section, K.L. Ledeganckstr. 35, B-9000 Gent, BELGIUM
Alex V. Tchesunov, Dept. Invertebrate Zoology, Biology Faculty, Moscow Lomonosov State Univ., Moscow 119899, RUSSIA
Zhang Zhinan, Department of Marine Biology, Ocean University of Qindgao, Qingdao, Shangdong, PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA

You may make your donations to the Bertil Swedmark Fund directly to the IAM bank account (account number 6586667) of the Lloyds Bank (Sort code 30-96-68), 8 Royale Parade Plymouth PL1 1HB, UK.

IN MEMORIAM

Jacques Castel, meiobenthologist at the Marine Station of Arcachon, France, died suddenly January 12, 1997 from cardio-vascular problem. He was only forty-five and no one among his family and colleagues could expect such a tragic end. After preparing his PhD thesis in Pierre Lasserre's laboratory, Jacques spent all his career of researcher at the Laboratory of Biological Oceanography at Arcachon. His research topics were the dynamics and ecological adaptations of the small metazoans in lagoons and estuaries; actually, most of his studies dealt with copepods in the eutrophic ecosystems along the French Atlantic coast, especially the Gironde Estuary and Arcachon Bay. Jacques was both a zooplanktonologist and a meiobenthologist, but, above all, he was a copepodologist. I don't know if he really loved 'his' copepods (we often joked about their intellect) but I know he soon realized how copepods, either pelagic or benthic, could be valuable models for studying and understanding the fundamental principles of marine ecology. During his too short career he published a hundred papers and supervised some twenty PhD students. He also participated in several national and European programmes. Jacques was a quiet man and a good scientist. I, and many of us, lost more than a colleague.

Guy Bachelet
7 February 1997

Dr. Donald J. Zinn, a long-time advocate of meiobenthology, died of cancer 18 September 1996. He was the husband of Margery (Pool) Zinn who survives him along with two sons and a stepdaughter, a brother, two sisters, and several grandchildren. Don received his bachelors's degree form Harvard University in 1933, a masters's degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1937. He was working on his doctoral research in 1939 at Woods Hole, Massachusetts when he met Robert W. Pennak during the latter's summer research the Marine Biological Laboratory. Studying the same beach interstitial habitat, they co-discovered the Mystacocarida which was the subject their 1943 publication. In terms of the early history of meiofaunal studies in the United States, this, perhaps, was one of the more notable landmarks.
Don received his doctorate from Yale University in 1942 and then served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. Unknown to most of us, he was a pioneer in the field of aviation physiology, producing a number of publications on this subject.
After the war he took a position as naturalist at the Woods Hole Laboratory and in 1947 joined the faculty of the University of Rhode Island where he worked as a marine ecologist and professor of zoology for 28 years until his retirement in 1974. He was a long-time associate of the National Wildlife Federation and served as its National President from 1967 to 1970 and an even longer associate of the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole. He was committed to volunteer service in many organizations in his community, and in the areas of natural history, environmental policy and conservation. In addition to several publications on meiofauna, he was author of two textbooks, "The Handbook for Beach Strollers form Maine to Cape Hatteras" and "Marine Mollusks of Cape Cod."
Any meiobenthologist who has visited Woods Hole probably remembers Don in a special way. He was an effervescent meiobenthologist whose wealth of knowledge about the natural history of meiofauna never reached its zenith or the extensive publication that it deserved. What I remember of Don is his power to encourage, to instill enthusiasm, to support the quest for knowledge about meiofauna. These characteristics certainly played a role in the founding of Psammonalia and, ultimately, the organization we now call the International Association of Meiobenthologists. If there are beaches in heaven, we can be sure that Don will be able to tell us all about what exciting research challenges are there for us to pursue when we make our own collecting trip there.
Bob Higgins

EDITORIAL

After a freezing month of January in Belgium (3 weeks of about minus 10 C) I m looking forward to the forthcoming Spring and Summer Indeed, it seems that we in Europe are really adapted to warmer temperatures since a lot of our scientific activities are situated in the tropics (by the way, in March I will be one week in Kenya and two weeks in Ecuador). The affinity for warmer regions was also noted in the recently published 'Inventory of Marine Biodiversity Research projects in the EU/EEA Member states (edited by Richard Warwick, Raquel Goni & Carlo Heip). This inventory is a comprehensive guide of the actual research in the above mentioned field in Europe.
The 5 DIVERSITAS core programme elements were investigated and split into research within European Waters and Research outside European waters both performed by following European countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom).
Within the tables, I searched for meiofaunal projects and came to the following conclusions:
The numbers mentioned in the table are the numbers of projects which include meiofauna:

However, on a total of 610 recorded projects, only 29 or about 5 % are dealing with meiofauna. TOO FEW is my personal opinion about this. We really have to do something about meiofaunal research and try to make a lot of effort to promote meiofauna among young scientists if we will not be working soon on a dying science !!!!

Meiobenthic research has still many unsolved problems. At these days, I am convinced that we have good books for determination, although many new species still need to be described. But this alone may not hamper anymore the scarcity of interest.

University people amongst us may not forget to teach about meiofauna and secondly, we have to put a lot of effort in getting this science financed.

NEVER GIVE UP !!!

MONEY BUSINESS

Bertil Swedmark Fund.
Statement of Accounts to 31st December 1996

This fund was originated from a bequest of oe 1000 from Dr Bertil Swedmark, to encourage the study of meiofauna amongst students. However, the money was held within the general IAM funds until 1993 when the treasury was handed over from Plymouth to South Carolina. The money is held in the IAM Account Number 6586667 of Lloyds Bank (Sort code 30-96-68), 8 Royal Parade, Plymouth, PL1 1HB, UK. The account opened in October 1993 with the original £ 1000 and a sum of money donated by the organizers and participants of the Maryland Conference. The accounts to December 1996 are as follows:

UK Bank Interest rates are very low at the moment (Jan. - June 1996 at 2.37 %; June - Dec. 1996 at 2.13 % on accounts between £500 - £5000). So interest is only accumulating very slowly. The capital income in 1996 was entirely through the generous contributions of members. You make a donation to the BSF either directly into the bank account (in sterling) or by sending them to the treasurer or assistant treasurer with your subscription.

Reports of the treasurers

The Belgian treasurer received 33.679 BEF (about 1000 $) from membership dues in 1996. We spended however 65.667 BEF to produce the issues 111 to 114. About 50 % of this costs were made to multiply the issues and the other 50 % to distribute the numbers by mail. Since we started with 37.088 BEF which we received from the previous treasurer (the actual assistant-treasurer), the capital left on our Belgian account amounts 5. 200 BEF . We received about 3.400 BEF as donations for the Swedmark Fund which are not yet incorporated in the former table.

The U.S. assistant - treasurer received dues payments from 66 members during 1996 totalling $1.865. Expenditures included $ 440 for photocopies of back issues of Psammonalia (which we sold for $500). A total of $197 was donated to the Swedmark fund, plus we transferred an additional $ 1000 to this fund. This leaves a balance of $ 4701,39 in the US account.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Baltic meiofauna meeting

Twenty researchers working in six countries bordering the Baltic Sea took part in a meiofauna meeting at the Ask" Laboratory in the Stockholm archipelago 9th to 12th of September 1996. The main aim of the meeting was to bring together meiofauna researchers working in the Baltic Sea to: 1) present the various meiobenthic research projects carried out in each country, with special emphasis on the Baltic region. 2) discuss the possibilities of co-working on research topics that groups or individual scientists have in common 3) increase the possibilities of visiting students or scientists between the various research centres 4) discuss future funding for meiofauna research programmes in the region at an international level. More than half of the participants were post-graduate students, some in their initial phase of studies while others soon completing their theses.
The research projects presented at the meeting included: Systematics of free-living nematodes, meiofauna as food for juvenile fish, benthic-pelagic coupling (using both stable and radioactive isotopes), uptake of dissolved free amino acids by oligochaetes, sulphide resistance of harpacticoids, effects of anoxia on meiobenthos, several distribution studies both spatial and temporal, size spectra studies and tropical meiobenthic research.
A strong interest for co-operation between researchers or research groups was expressed. Individual short time visits are planned. International co-operation on special research topics was discussed without any firm conclusions. It was decided to continue such meetings every second or third year. The group was christened the Baltic meiofauna research group (BALMERG) and I will act as its contact person until next meeting.

Emil Olafsson
Department of Zoology
University of Stockholm
S-106 91 Stockholm
Sweden
E-mail:emil.olafsson@zoologi.su.se

Evolution of Biological Diversity: From Population Differentiation to Speciation London, UK July 9-10 1997

A discussion meeting at The Royal Society, Carlton House Terrace, London UK. Organized by Robert May and Anne Magurran.

PaleoForams '97

First announcement and call for papers

Crustacean Society Summer Meeting Mobile, Alabama - May 21-24, 1997

Symposia:

International Symposium on Foraminifera

Monterrey, N.L., Mexico, 7 July - 11 July, 1998
Once again, thanks for your prompt reply to our first circular, so far we have more than one hundred colleagues that expressed an interest in participating in FORAMS'98. We have received a number of suggestions for Theme Sessions, Symposia, Working Group Meetings and Short Courses. We are in the process of addressing each of these suggestions and we will contact the corresponding proponents.

NEWS FROM MEMBERS

Address changes

NEW MEMBERS

Cheon Young Chang
Dept. of Biology
College of Natural Sciences
Taegu University
Kyungsan City
Korea
Tel. +82-53-8506454
Fax. +82-53-8505834
e-mail: cychang@biho.taegu.ac.kr
Interests: Taxonomy, interstitial Copepoda, Gastrotricha, Tardigrada

RECENT LITERATURE

Abe, K & J Vannier, 1995. Functional morphology and significance of the circulatory system of Ostracoda, exemplified by Vargula hilgedorfii (Myodocopida). Marine Biology, 124: 51-58.

Azovsky, AI, 1996. The effect of scale on congener coexistence: can molluscs and polychaetes reconcile beetles to ciliates? Oikos, 77: 117-125.

Bagien, E, A Miranda, B Reguera & JM Franco, 1996. Effects of two paralytic shellfish toxin producing dinoflagellates on the harpacticoid copepod Euterpina acutifrons. Marine Biology, 126: 361-369.

Basford, DJ, DC Moore & AS Eleftheriou, 1996. Variations in benthos in the north western North Sea in relation to the inflow of Atlantic water, 1980-1984. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 53 (6): 957-963.

Benedetti-Cecchi, L, L Airoldi, M Abbiati & F Cinelli, 1996. Estimating the abundance of benthic invertebrates: a comparison of procedures and variability between observers. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 138: 93-101.

Benedetti-Cecchi, L, L Airoldi, M Abbiati & F Cinelli, 1996. Exploring the causes of spatial variation in an assemblage of benthic invertebrates from a submarine cave with sulphur springs. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 208: 153-167.

Bernhard, JM, E Alve & AA Reilly, 1996. Response to the comment by Moodley et al. ("Subsurface activity of benthic foraminifera", see below). Marine Ecology Progress Series, 145: 305-307.

Boetius, A, S Scheibe, A Tselepides & H Thiel, 1996. Microbial biomass and activities in deep sea sediments of the Eastern Mediterranean: trenches are benthic hotspots. Deep-Sea Research Part I-Oceanographic Research Papers, 43 (9):1439-1460.

Bruce, NL & AG Soares, 1996. Taxonomy and ecology of sandy beach Eurydice (Crustacea, Isopoda, Cirolanidae) from the west coast of South Africa. Cahiers de Biologie Marine, 37 (1): 77-98.

Burkovsky, IV, DE Aksenov & AI Azovsky, 1996. Mesoscale spatial structure of the community of marine psammophilic ciliates. Okeanologyia, 36 (4): 588-592.

Caley, MJ, MH Carr, MA Hixon, TP Hughes, GP Jones & BA Menge, 1996. Recruitment and the local dynamics of open marine populations. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 27: 477-500.

Caley, MJ & D Schluter, 1997. The relationship between local and regional diversity. Ecology, 78: 70-80.

Caumette, P, J Castel & R Herbert, 1996. Coastal lagoon eutrophication and anaerobic processes (C.L.E.A.N.): nitrogen and sulfur cycles and population dynamics in coastal lagoons. Kluwer Academic Publ., Dordrecht. Reprinted from Hydrobiologia 329. 225 p.

Chaudron, Y., S.A. Poulet, M. Laabir, A. Ianora & A. Miralto, 1996. Is hatching success of copepod eggs diatom density-dependent? Marine Ecology Progress Series, 144: 185-193.

Danovaro, R, 1996. Detritus-bacteria-meiofauna interactions in a seagrass bed (Posidonia oceanica) of the NW Mediterranean. Marine Biology, 127: 1-13.

Debeney, JP, J Pawlowski & D Decrouez, 1996. Les foraminifÆres actuels. Paris Masson: 329 p.

Elston, D.A., A.W. Illius & I.J. Gordon, 1996. Assessment of preference among a range of options using log ratio analysis. Ecology, 77: 2538-2548.

Fenchel, T, 1996. Worm burrows and oxic microniches in marine sediments. 1. Spatial and temporal scales. Marine Biology, 127: 289-296.

Fenchel, T, 1996. Worm burrows and oxic microniches in marine sediments. 2. Distribution patterns of ciliated protozoa. Marine Biology, 127: 297-302.

Gee, JM & R Huys, 1996. An appraisal of the taxonomic position of Enhydrosoma buchholzi (BOECK, 1872), E. bifurcarostratum SHEN & TAI, 1965, E. barnishi WELLS, 1967 and E. vervoorti FIERS, 1987 with definition of two new genera (Copepoda, Harpacticoida, Cletodidae). Sarsia, 81: 161-274

Gooday, AJ, 1996. Epifaunal and shallow infaunal foraminiferal communities at three abyssal NE Atlantic sites subject to differing phytodetritus input regimes. Deep-Sea Research Part I, 43: 1395-1421.

Guisande, C, J Snchez, I Maneiro & A Miranda, 1996. Trade-off between offspring number and offspring size in the marine copepod Euterpina acutifrons at different food concentrations. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 143: 37-44.

Harris, VA & N Iwazaki, 1996. Three new species of Porcellidium (Crustacea, Copepoda, Harpacticoida) from Iwate Prefecture, Japan. Bulletin of the National Science Museum, 22 (3): 133-152.

Hassett, RP & P Blades-Eckelbarger, 1995. Diel changes in gut-cell morphology and digestive activity of the marine copepod Acartia tonsa. Marine Biology, 124: 59-70..

Healy, B, 1996. The distribution of Oligochaeta on an exposed rocky shore in southeast Ireland. Hydrobiologia, 334(1-3): 51-62.

Heffner, R.A., M.J. Butler IV & C.K. Reilly, 1996. Pseudoreplication revisited. Ecology, 77: 2558-2562.

Hensley, RT, 1996. A preliminary survey of benthos from the Nephrops norvegicus mud grounds in the North-western Irish Sea. Estuarine Coastal & Shelf Science, 42: 457-466.

Huys, R & JM Gee, 1996. Prionos gen. nov. from the meiofauna of a Malaysian mangrove forest and the status of Psammis borealis (Copepoda, Harpacticoida, Paranannopidae). Cahiers de Biologie Marine, 37: 227-247.

Ianora, A, SA Poulet, A Miralto & R Grottoli, 1996. The diatom Thalassiosira rotula affects reproductive success in the copepod Acartia clausi. Marine Biology, 125: 279-286.

Jahn, A, I Gamenick & H Theede, 1996. Physiological adaptations of Cyprideis torosa (Crustacea, Ostracoda) to hydrogen sulphide. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 142: 215-223.

Khusid, T.A., 1996. Recent benthic foraminiferal assemblages in the Kara Sea. Okeanologyia, 36 (5): 759-765.

Kim, I-H & JH Stock, 1996. A new species of Clausidiidae (Copepoda, Poecilostomatoida) associated with the bivalve Ruditapes philippinarum in Korea. Cahiers de Biologie Marine, 37: 1-6.

Kuhnt, W, 1996. Early Danian benthic foraminiferal community structures, Geulhemmerberg, SE Netherlands. Geologie en Mijnbouw, 75 (2-3): 163-172.

Lafont, M, JC Camus & A Rosso, 1996. Superficial and hyporheic oligochaete communities as indicators of pollution and water exchange in the river Moselle, France. Hydrobiologia, 334 (1-3): 147-155.

Mindell, D.P. & C.E. Thacker, 1996. Rates of molecular evolution: phylogenetic issues and applications. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 27: 279-304.

Moens, T & M Vincx, 1997. Observations on the feeding ecology of estuarine nematodes. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 77: 211-227.

Molinari, J, 1996. A critique of Bulla's paper on diversity indices. Oikos, 76: 577-582.

Moodley, L, PMJ Herman, JJ Middelburg & CHR Heip, 1996. Subsurface activity of benthic foraminifera. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 145: 303-304.

Muthumbi, A & M Vincx, 1996. Nematodes from the Indian Ocean: description of six new species of the genus Molgolaimus DITLEVSEN, 1921 (Nematoda: Desmodoridae). Bulletin van het Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen, Biologie, 66: 17-28.

Nejstgaard, JC & PT Solberg, 1996. Repression of copepod feeding and fecundity by the toxic haptophyte Prymnesium patelliferum. Sarsia, 81: 339-345.

Oliver, I & AJ Beattie, 1996. Designing a cost-effective invertebrate survey: a test of methods for rapid assessment of biodiversity. Ecological Applications, 6 (2): 594-607.

Pace, MC & KR Carman, 1996. Interspecific differences among meiobenthic copepods in the use of microalgal food resources. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 143: 77-86

Pilato, G & MGTWO Binda, 1996. New species and new records of Macrobiotus (Eutardigrada) from New Zealand. New-Zealand Journal of Zoology, 23 (4): 375-379.

Posey, M, W Lindberg, T Alphin & F Vose, 1996. Influence of storm disturbance on an offshore benthic community. Bulletin of Marine Science, 59: 523-529.

Rathburn, AE, BH Corliss, KD Tappa & KC Lohmann, 1996. Comparisons of the ecology and stable isotopic compositions of living (stained) benthic foraminifera from the Sulu and South China Seas. Deep-Sea Research Part I, Oceanographic Research Papers, 43: 1617-1645.

Relexans, J-C, J Deming, A Dinet, J-F Gaillard & M Sibuet, 1996. Sedimentary organic matter and micro-meiobenthos with relation to trophic conditions in the tropical northeast Atlantic. Deep-Sea Research Part I, 43: 1343 a.s.

Riera, P, P Richard, A GrÆmare & G Blanchard, 1996. Food source of intertidal nematodes in the Bay of Marennes-OlÆron (France), as determined by dual stable isotope analysis. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 142: 303-309.

Sach, G & KH van Bernem, 1996. Spatial patterns of harpacticoid copepods on tidal flats. Senckenbergiana maritima, 26: 97-106.

Santos, PJP, J Castel & LP Souza-Santos, 1996. Seasonal variability of meiofaunal abundance in the oligo-mesohaline area of the Gironde Estuary, France. Estuarine Coastal & Shelf Science, 43: 549-563.

Schleier, U & KH van Bernem, 1996. A method to compare samples of soft bottom communities. Senckenbergiana maritima, 26: 135-144.

Schmitz, B & RP Speijer, 1996. Stable isotope (delta O 18, delta C 13) records across the cretaceous/tertiary boundary in the Geulhemmerberg (SE Netherlands). Geologie en Mijnbouw, 75 (2-3): 245-253.

Schmitz, OJ, 1997. Press perturbations and the predictability of ecological interactions in a food web. Ecology, 78: 55-69.

Schreiber, A, M Eisinger, H Rumohr & V Storch, 1996. Icy heritage: ecological evolution of the postglacial Baltic Sea reflected in the allozymes of a living fossil, the priapulid Halicryptus spinulosus. Marine Biology, 125: 671-686.

Sheail, J, 1995. The ecologist and environmental history - A British perspective. Journal of Biogeo-graphy, 22: 953-966.

Sundback, K, P Nilsson, C Nilsson & B Jonsson, 1996. Balance between autotrophic and heterotrophic components and processes in microbenthic communities of sandy sediments: a field study. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 43 (6):689-706.

Thrush, S.F., R.B. Whitlatch, R.D. Pridmore, J.E. Hewitt, V.J. Cummings & M.R. Wilkinson, 1996. Scale-dependent recolonization: the role of sediment stability in a dynamic sandflat habitat. Ecology, 77: 2472-2487.

Villora-Moreno, S, 1996. A new genus and species of the deep-sea family Coronarctidae (Tardigrada) from a submarine cave with a deep-sea like condition. Sarsia, 81: 275-284.

Villora-Moreno, S, 1996. Ecology and distribution of the Diurodrilidae (Polychaeta), with redescription of Diurodrilus benazzii. Cahiers de Biologie Marine, 37: 99-108.

WÆgele, JW, 1996. First principles of phylogenetic systematics, a basis for numerical methods used for morphological and molecular characters. Vie et Milieu, 46: 125-138.

Wellborn, G.A., D.K. Skelly & E.E. Werner, 1996. Mechanisms creating community structure across a freshwater habitat gradient. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 27: 337-364.

White, G.C. & R.E. Bennetts, 1996. Analysis of frequency count data using the negative binomial distribution. Ecology, 77: 2549-2557.

Witte, L & H Schuurman, 1996. Calcareous benthic Foraminifera across the cretaceous/tertiary boundary in the Geulhemmerberg (SE Netherlands). Geologie en Mijnbouw, 75 (2-3): 173-185.

A WORD FROM THE PRODUCTION EDITOR

Since the last issue of Psammonalia (Nov. 1996), a lot has changed in my life. Next to becoming a daddy, I managed to get a new job as the curator of the Zoology Museum of the University of Gent. In this new position, I would like to take this opportunity to present our museum as a possible collection address for all you meiofauna-taxonomists out there. If you are working on taxonomy of any meiofauna group, do not hesitate to send us type material of your new species to register and add to our recognized type collection. The address for this is:

Dominick Verschelde
University of Gent
Museum voor Dierkunde
K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35
B-9000 Gent, Belgium
Tel : (0)9-264.52.28
Fax : (0)9-264.53.44

Send your email reflections to: Dominick.Verschelde@rug.ac.be

International Association of Meiobenthologists

APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP OR RENEWAL

The International Association of Meiobenthologists is a non-profit scientific society representing meiobenthologists in all aquatic disciplines. The Association is dedicated to the dissemination of information by publishing a quarterly newsletter and sponsoring a triennial International Conference. The newsletter, Psammonalia, is published mid-month in February, May, August and November.

Membership is open to any person who is actively interested in the study of meiofauna. Annual membership dues are 300 Belgian francs ($ 10 US) and you may pay up to 3 years in advance, i.e. 900 BEF ($30). New members will receive Psammonalia beginning with the February issue of the current year. If you are able, please add extra money to be contributed to the Bertil Swedmark Fund, which is used to help students or others who wish to attend the triennial International Conference.

Please check appropriate boxes:
� New member (*)
� Renewing member 300 BEF or $10
� Change of address
� Regular membership 300 BEF or $10
� Patron or Sustaining membership 1500 BEF or $50

Name _____________________

Address _________________________________________________________________

City, St/Prov ______________________

Zip/Postal Code ______________________

Country ______________________

E-mail address ______________________

Telephone ______________________

FAX number ______________________

BEF / $US _______ enclosed for _____ years. Regular member at 300 BEF or $10 /year. Patron or Sustaining member at 1500 BEF or $50/year.

BEF / $US _______ enclosed to contribute to the Bertil Swedmark Fund.

BEF/ $US ________ TOTAL

VISA/MASTER/EUROCARD number ________________________

Expiration date ___________________

Signature ____________________

For North American members: dues can be paid in US dollars. Make checks payable to Intl. Assoc. of Meiobenthologists. Send dues and applications to: Dr. Robert Feller, Belle W. Baruch Institute, Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208 USA

For all other members: dues can be paid in Belgian francs. Make (euro)checks payable to Ann Vanreusel. If possible make use of the creditcard transaction possibilities. Send dues and applications to: Dr. Ann Vanreusel, Marine Biology Section, Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Gent , BELGIUM

(*) New members please introduce yourself in 10 lines

Interests: ___________________________________________________________________