Thoracophelia is an aberrant genus, including 2 species, one from the South Pacific and the other from the Sea of Japan. The specimens referred to the present species were collected by Mr. M. Iwasa, of our Institute last year at Esashi, Hokkaido, on the coast of the Okhotsk Sea. The description of the species is as follows.

The following description is based on a single specimen which was forwarded to me by Mr. M. Tamura,of the Hiroshima Fishery Station, the specific name being chosen as an expression of my gratitude to him for the specimen. The worm is common and is used as bait in the vicinity of Onomichi, Hiroshima Pref., under the name of " Bikuni-Mamushi." Marphysa tamurai n. sp.

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Leaf-litter nitrogen concentration was investigated for 17 hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa Endlicher) forests in the Kochi region on the Pacific Ocean side and the Kyoto region on the Sea of Japan side in Japan where both the amount of precipitation and frequency of typhoon attacks differ between regions. Leaf properties were predicted from climatic, stand, and soil properties by multiple regression analysis. Fresh-leaf nitrogen was higher in the Kyoto than Kochi regions and was higher where soil C/N ratio is lower. The time of leaf-fall, i.e., 50% of the annual leaf fall, showed a difference of 86 days among the forests and occurred earlier in forests at higher altitudes. The time of leaf-fall at higher altitudes was earlier due to the higher susceptibility to strong winds from typhoons. Leaf-litter nitrogen concentration of annual leaf-fall or winter leaffall was lower when the time of leaf-fall occurred later.The results indicate that nitrogen resorption is proficient when leaf-fall occurs later, leading to lower leaf-litter nitrogen concentration.

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