The Oligochætous Fauna of Lake Birket el Qurun and Lake Nyassa

Abstract

IN NATURE of August 1, 1907 (vol. lxxvi., p. 316), Messrs. Cunnington and C. L. Boulenger wrote a preliminary account of the fauna of Lake Birket el Qurun. I am indebted to these gentlemen for the opportunity of supplementing their account by a note upon the Oligochæta of that lake. They were so good as to send to me two tubes with a large number of specimens of a small oligochætous worm collected in the lake. These specimens were found to belong, without exception, to the species Paranais littoralis. The occurrence of this Naid in northern Africa is a new fact in its distribution. It has hitherto been met with in many parts of Europe, both in fresh water and in brackish, even salt, water. As to its marine habitat, it has been collected on the shores of Denmark and near Odessa.