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No. 4. 



REPORTS ON THE MARINE ALCx.E OF CEYLON. 



No. I.— ECOLOGICAL AND SYSTEMATIC STUDIES OF THE 

 CEYLON SPECIES OF CAULERPA. 



By NILS SVEDELIUS, Ph. D., 



Docent in Botany at the University of Uppsala. 



I.— INTRODUCTION. 



The investigation of the marine flora of Ceylon, of which this is the first part published, was 

 carried out by myself during the years 1902 and 1903 with the help of a grant from the Regnell Botanical 

 TravelUng Scholarship at the University of Uppsala. My stay in the island lasted, with a short inter- 

 ruption, from November, 1902, to August, 1903, and for the greater part of the time I stopped at Galle, 

 on the south coast, which place showed itself to be the most convenient centre for algal studies in Ceylon. 

 Thus, here are to be found close under the ramparts one of the greatest coral reefs in Ceylon, which 

 together with the rocks adjacent offers a rich marine flora living under partly varying external conditions, 

 and at the same time a ricli material for studies in various branches of algology. Here, too, I had the great 

 advantage, through the courtesy of the Ceylon Government, of being allowed to carry on my investi- 

 gations in the newly established Ceylon Marine Laboratory, by wliich my studies were greatly facilitated. 

 It is with great pleasure that I seize this opportunity of expressing my sincere thanks to Mr. Jambs 

 HoRNELL, F.L.S., Marine' Biologist to. the Ceylon Government and Inspector of Pearl Banks, for the 

 never-failing interest he showed and the great assistance he afforded me in the prosecution of all my 

 algal investigations in Ceylon. 



After making myself tolerably familiar with the Ceylon marine flora within a Umited district, I 

 extended my knowledge of the algal vegetation by journeys along the coast. So I visited Weligama, Matara, 

 Dondra Head, and Tangalla, in the south ; Gintota, Ambalangoda, Kosgoda, Bentota, Beruwala, Colombo, 

 and Negombo, in the west. The marine vegetation in the north of Ceylon is known to me by studies 

 at and excursions about Jaffna and by visits to Paumben on the Island of Rameswaram. This little 

 island does not belong to Ceylon, but to India ; its situation, however, since it bounds the Gulf of Mannar 

 in the north, justifies it in being included in the Ceylon marine flora district. The vegetation of the 

 east of Ceylon is known to me througli a lengthy stay at Trincomalee, on the east coast. Naturally, 

 it was predominantly the littoral flora that was the object of my studies. As far as was possible for me 

 I tried, by dredging, to get to know the sub-littoral vegetation ; but my knowledge of it is unfortunately 

 rather fragmentary, since dredging required a much more complicated apparatus than was at my dis- 

 posal. Dredging, moreover, is exceedingly difficult to carry out on the open Ceylon coasts with their 

 often difficult bottoms, the more so as the outrigger canoes of the natives are too narrow a craft for such 

 work, which requires broader and more roomy boats. At smaller depths one can conveniently make 

 use of native divers, but the yield from this source is invariably poor. My knowledge of the sub-littoral 

 flora is thus rather fragmentary, and tlie best material I got from deeper water came from tiie pearl 

 49-06 



