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In memory of Richard Van Belle, pp.1-8 by Frank Nolf.

Although R.A. Van Belle was above all a teacher of physical education, his second life was mostly dedicated to the study of molluscs, especially focusing on Polyplacophora. He managed to build up a general molluscan collection consisting of more than 4,000 species, of which about all specimens had been obtained through field work or exchanges. Stimulated by Jos Christiaens (Hasselt, Belgium) and the late E. Leloup he started publishing papers on Polyplacophora in ‘Gloria Maris’ and ‘Informations de la Société belge de Malacologie’. He worked together with both the MNHN (Paris) and the BMNH (London) and he became a scientific associate in the Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences (RBINS). Piles of books were processed in his personal card system. In 1975 he made acquantaince with Piet Kaas (Rijswijk, The Netherlands), at that time already a famous researcher in the field of Chitons. This resulted in the publication of numerous papers and especially the ‘Catalogue of Living Chitons’ and the ‘Monograph of Living Chitons’ as main works. In 2001 R. Van Belle decided to donate his collection, the study material, al his personal notes and his library to the RBINS (Brussels). This lifework contains 10,270 specimens, 534 different species (60% of all valid species) and 30 paratypes. The collection of chitons preserved on alcohol comprises 2,000 specimens belonging to 300 different species. The fossil chitons are represented by some thousands specimens. The documentation contains hundreds of slides, photographs and thousands of filing cards, 20 books related to chitons, but above all publications and photocopies, all together forming a 5 metres long collection.

Key words: R.A. Van Belle, Piet Kaas, Polyplacophora, chitons.

Bolma madagascarensis (Gastropoda: Turbinoidea: Turbinidae) a new species from the Strait of Mozambique, pp.9-14, plates I-XVI + map by Frank Nolf & Johan Verstraeten.

Bolma madagascarensis sp. nov. from the Strait of Mozambique is described and figured. This species is compared with Bolma henica (Watson, 1879) and Bolma abyssorum (Schepman, 1908) from the West Pacific Ocean, the latter only being considered as a form of B. henica.

Key words: Bolma madagascarensis sp. nov., TURBINIDAE, SW Madagascar, new taxon.