Dear Alan,
I spent the summer of 1964 there - in the guise of schistosomiasis
research. Marine collecting off the north portion of the east coast
(Fajardo, Sardineira, Seven Seas for shore diving; Cayos Icacos, Palominos,
and Palominitos for small boat diving) was productive. Intertidal
collecting along the rocky portions of the coast in San Juan was also great
(at LOW tide). The mangroves and quiet beaches of SW Puerto Rico (e. g.
Cabo Rojo) had a little different fauna. One G. I., whose collection (in
part) reached me in the 1960's had a great number of smaller species he
picked out of the drift at Crashboat beach (near Ramey AFB). I'll never
forget Carlos Aguayo, who had emigrated to th University of Mayaguëz,
instructing me on the patterns of distribution of Strombus off the nearby
shore (S. pugilis, S. gigas, S. raninus, and S. costatus each had its turf).
There are three basic landsnail habitats, all of which are apparent with a
map and rental car: rainforest (El Yunque is said to be off limits for
collecting nowadays), pepiños (the karst hillocks like the mogotes of
Cuba), where you should take generous soil samples for micros, and
agricultural areas (you can find a lot of snails in the bracts of banana
trees). Throw in the specialized habitats such as the Cerion zone behind
the beaches and certain trees (for Drymaeus and Bulimulus), and you can
probably garner 60% of the land fauna in a week's visit.
I presume you have van der Schalie (1948) and Warmke and Abbott (1961). If
not, let me know.
Good luck,
Harry
At 06:49 PM 10/31/99 -0500, you wrote:
>Dear L'rs:
>Since the list recently has more musings than serious questions, this
>has led me to ask something I have wondered about. It seems the
>Caribbean is well traversed for shell collecting, and I know of folks
>who have been to almost every spot with a name in the Bahamas, Turks and
>Caicos, Dominican Rep., Windward and Leewards, etc. It seems, however,
>that few go to Puerto Rico for shelling. Since that island has a
>decent, if limited, land fauna, I was thinking of planning a trip there
>someday. But what about marine collecting there? Why do so few go there
>for shells? Any locations for either land or marine shell there?
>Thanks in advance.
>
>Alan Gettleman
>Merrit Island, Florida
>
Harry G. Lee
Suite 500
1801 Barrs St.
Jacksonville, Fl. 32204
USA 904-384-6419
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