{"title":"Abundance Episode of Historis acheronta semele (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in Havana, Cuba","authors":"Yosiel Álvarez","doi":"10.18475/cjos.v51i2.a5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18475/cjos.v51i2.a5","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The occurrence of an unprecedented abundance episode of Historis acheronta semele in July, 2021 in Havana, Cuba is reported. Ecological and ethological notes are made, and the possible causes and outcomes of the presence of large numbers of butterflies in the city are discussed. The absence of additional records makes it impossible to assess if the event is a migration or just a local abundance episode. The event developed during the rainy season of the Cuban climate, in coincidence with previously reported events for similar butterflies in Cuba. Nonetheless, the exact causes of this event remain unknown, as does the host plant of this butterfly in Cuba.","PeriodicalId":55274,"journal":{"name":"Caribbean Journal of Science","volume":"51 1","pages":"189 - 193"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46242792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An Unusual Aberrant Colored Keel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus, Ramphastidae) in Northern Costa Rica","authors":"Lucía I. López Umaña, J. M. Mora","doi":"10.18475/cjos.v51i2.a4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18475/cjos.v51i2.a4","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Although plumage color aberrations are common in birds, they often are difficult or even impossible to properly identify in the field. Even though some of these aberrations are common, including progressive greying, leucism, and albinism, there is confusion among the mechanisms responsible for each of the color aberrations. Other color abnormalities, such as dilution and ino, are found or reported less frequently. The Keel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus; Piciformes: Ramphastidae) is predominantly black, red under the tail coverts, and the feathers above the tail that are white colored. It has a yellow bib covering the throat and chest with a red band countering it, and the skin of the face is chartreuse. The Keel-billed Toucan is most notable for its massive, multicolored bill that makes up to a third of its length. Here we report a genetic-based melanin deficiency producing an unusual coloration in the Keel-billed Toucan. An individual observed at Pital, San Carlos, in the lowlands of northern Costa Rica in October, 2020 lacked melanin, but retained carotenoids. As most parts of the plumage normally have both melanin and carotenoids, the yellow becomes visible where the black is now absent, such as the ventral feathers. We discuss possible explanations for this unusual coloration.","PeriodicalId":55274,"journal":{"name":"Caribbean Journal of Science","volume":"51 1","pages":"184 - 188"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42733596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Charles Coc, Arlenie Rogers, Eduardo Barrientos, Henry Sanchez
{"title":"Micro and Macroplastics Analysis in the Digestive Tract of a Sea Cucumber (Holothuriidae, Holothuria floridana) of the Placencia Lagoon, Belize","authors":"Charles Coc, Arlenie Rogers, Eduardo Barrientos, Henry Sanchez","doi":"10.18475/cjos.v51i2.a2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18475/cjos.v51i2.a2","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Microplastics have been identified as an emergent pollutant in the aquatic environment. Ingestion of microplastics in the wild by various biota has been documented around the globe, but little has been documented on sea cucumbers and none on microplastics in sea cucumbers in the Caribbean region. In this study, we document the presence of microplastics in the gastrointestinal tract of the sea cucumber Holothuria floridana collected from the Placencia Lagoon, Belize, Central America. The collection site is surrounded by an active tourist and fishing community that was observed to discharge solid waste directly and indirectly into the lagoon habitats of H. floridana. The results confirms the ingestion of microplastics by H. floridana. From 30 individuals averaging 22.5 cm in length, a total of 252 microplastic particles were extracted, isolated, and categorized. The mean number of microplastic particles per individual sea cucumber was 8.4 ±4.5, with a mean length of 0.703 mm ±0.706. The microplastics identified were plastic fragments (93%) and fibers (7%); with no evidence of plastic pellets (0%). This finding raises concerns regarding the chemical effects these plastics can have on human health, especially since sea cucumber intestines are consumed as luxury foods in Asian countries.","PeriodicalId":55274,"journal":{"name":"Caribbean Journal of Science","volume":"51 1","pages":"166 - 174"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44982627","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Massiel Alfonso-González, A. Llanes-Quevedo, Adolfo G. Navarro‐Sigüenza, G. E. López
{"title":"Genetic Evidence Documents Extra-Pair Paternity in Breeding Colonies of the Wood Stork Mycteria americana (Ciconiidae) in Cuba","authors":"Massiel Alfonso-González, A. Llanes-Quevedo, Adolfo G. Navarro‐Sigüenza, G. E. López","doi":"10.18475/cjos.v51i2.a3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18475/cjos.v51i2.a3","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The Wood Stork Mycteria americana is a rare resident bird species in the Caribbean, where it has small population sizes and reduced genetic variability. In the present study, we inferred the mating systems of the only two breeding colonies of Wood Stork known in the Caribbean, which are located in two of its most important wetlands: the Zapata Swamp Wetland and the Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago, both in Cuba. We sampled growing feathers of 27 chicks from 11 nests and analyzed genetic data from the most variable autosomal microsatellite loci described for the species. We estimated the relatedness between chicks by using the Queller-Goodnight coefficient and two maximum likelihood methods of kinship reconstruction. Evidence of monogamy was found in 27% of the nests analyzed, nest parasitism in the 36%, and extra-pair paternity in the 18%, while for the rest, inconsistencies among the methods were detected. Our results constitute the first evidence of extra-pair paternity for the Wood Stork and corroborate the usefulness of a non-invasive approach to perform kinship analysis in a poorly studied species.","PeriodicalId":55274,"journal":{"name":"Caribbean Journal of Science","volume":"51 1","pages":"175 - 183"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47500807","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nahíra Arocho Hernández, Carlos J. Santos Flores, Dennis Pérez López, Mónica Alfaro Lozano
{"title":"Aquatic Invertebrate Communities in Areas Covered and Devoid of the Floating Fern Salvinia Within the Mangrove Forest in the Boquerón Wildlife Refuge, Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico","authors":"Nahíra Arocho Hernández, Carlos J. Santos Flores, Dennis Pérez López, Mónica Alfaro Lozano","doi":"10.18475/cjos.v51i2.a1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18475/cjos.v51i2.a1","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The Boquerón Wildlife Refuge is the largest mangrove forest on Puerto Rico's west coast. Many of the mangrove channels there are periodically invaded by mats of the floating fern Salvinia. Since invasive plant species impact the biodiversity of wetlands, a monthly assessment of the aquatic macroinvertebrate diversity was conducted from June to November of 2013, in three mangrove areas invaded by Salvinia as well as three areas without it. Three sampling methods were used: aquatic light traps, emergence traps, and D-net sweeps. A total of 21,305 invertebrates representing 24 orders and 72 families were collected and identified. Diptera (21 families) showed the greatest taxonomic richness, followed by Coleoptera (12 families). Shannon-Weiner, Simpson, and Jaccard indexes were calculated per sampling method to compare the diversity between habitat-types. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) indicated significant variations in abundances between habitat-types in light-traps and D-nets, while showing significant temporal variations in abundances in the emergence traps. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) was used to represent the results of the PERMANOVA. Analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) and similarity percentage analysis (SIMPER) were employed to evaluate (dis-)similarities between habitat-types. Regardless of the type of trap, about half of the taxa were shared between the two habitat-types.","PeriodicalId":55274,"journal":{"name":"Caribbean Journal of Science","volume":"51 1","pages":"146 - 165"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46351060","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
María Victoria Cubillos-Abrahams, Andrés Camilo Montes-Correa, Luis Enrique Vera-Pérez
{"title":"First Record of the Greenhouse Frog Eleutherodactylus planirostris (Anura, Eleutherodactylidae) from San Andrés, Colombian Caribbean Islands","authors":"María Victoria Cubillos-Abrahams, Andrés Camilo Montes-Correa, Luis Enrique Vera-Pérez","doi":"10.18475/CJOS.V51I1.A16","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18475/CJOS.V51I1.A16","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55274,"journal":{"name":"Caribbean Journal of Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48291687","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rosa A. Rodriguez-Peña, R. C. León, Katherin Manzueta-Acevedo, Josué Fernández-Canela, Ruth H. Bastardo
{"title":"Genetic Diversity and Reproductive Biology of Two Species of Vaccinium (Ericaceae) in the Dominican Republic","authors":"Rosa A. Rodriguez-Peña, R. C. León, Katherin Manzueta-Acevedo, Josué Fernández-Canela, Ruth H. Bastardo","doi":"10.18475/CJOS.V51I1.A15","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18475/CJOS.V51I1.A15","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55274,"journal":{"name":"Caribbean Journal of Science","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44919869","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Report of Nesting of the Bananaquit (Passeriformes, Thraupidae, Coereba flaveola) in Man-made Objects in the Dominican Republic","authors":"P. M. Alarcón-Elbal","doi":"10.18475/CJOS.V51I1.A14","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18475/CJOS.V51I1.A14","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55274,"journal":{"name":"Caribbean Journal of Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47264869","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
P. Charruau, David Macías Díaz, Axel Rissac, Rodrigo García-Morales
{"title":"The Yucatan Yellow Bat (Vespertilionidae, Rhogeessa aeneus): a New Record for Banco Chinchorro Atoll, Mexico","authors":"P. Charruau, David Macías Díaz, Axel Rissac, Rodrigo García-Morales","doi":"10.18475/CJOS.V51I1.A12","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18475/CJOS.V51I1.A12","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55274,"journal":{"name":"Caribbean Journal of Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48227155","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"First Data of Reproductive Biology of Metlapilcoatlus indomitus (Serpentes: Viperidae) in Captivity","authors":"Luis Gualberto Zúniga López, Manuel Alejandro Paz","doi":"10.18475/CJOS.V51I1.A11","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18475/CJOS.V51I1.A11","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55274,"journal":{"name":"Caribbean Journal of Science","volume":"51 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2021-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41388000","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}