Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

The composition and structure of avian assemblage were analyzed at four localities located on the banks of Maimón River: confluencia Maimón river with Yuna river, highway Maimon-Piedra Blanca, Piedra Blanca y Los Plátanos. A total of 598 individuals belonging to 51 species and 28 families of birds were recorded. The Maimón-Piedra Blanca locality have registered the highest values of the Shannon index with H‘= 3.36, it was also the station with the highest avian abundance and species richness with 217 individuals and 43 species respectively. In contrast, the station located in Los Plátanos presented the lowest diversity and species richness with H‘ = 2.92 and 29, respectively, and the lowest abundance with 118 individuals. Seven trophic guilds and 15 trophic categories were registered. The carnivores and omnivores were the most diverse and abundant guilds. Significant differences were recorded on the relative abundance of birds by trophic guilds and between the studies areas (X² = 43.32, df = 18, p = < 0.01). Specie richness by trophic guild were not statistically different among studies areas (X² = 6.67, df = 18, p = 0.99). Significant differences were not recorded between trophic category by studies areas (X² = 39.34, df = 42, p = 0.58). Our results suggested that the avian assemblage associated at the Maimón River is equitable distributed. In addition, the bird’s assemblage was mainly composed for wide-ranging and habitat generalist’s species. Finally, although the studies areas were highly fragmented, they are an important refuge for resident and migratory birds.

Crabs of the genus Callinectes are widely distributed in warm waters. They inhabit coastal lagoons, estuaries and other shallow water bodies. In the lagoons of the Gulf of Mexico, they are exposed to significant fishery. In the case of Mexico, Callinectes sapidus and Callinectes rathbunae contribute with 90 % of the national catches. An important aspect in the life history of crabs is the parasitism caused by parasitic barnacles of the order Rhizocephala, due to their high prevalence and periodicity. The goal of the present study was to provide recent information about the number of externae per individual in crabs of the species C. rathbunae. In a commercial sampling performed in March 2019, three specimens of the species C. rathbunae parasitized with the rhizocephalan barnacle Loxothylacus texanus were captured, namely: a male specimen with two virgin externae, a female specimen with five virgin externae, and a male specimen with five mature externae. This is the first report presenting evidence of five externae in a host, concluding that this prevalence was low. It is important to conduct further studies of this type to fully understand the life cycle of L. texanus and its impact on the populations of its hosts.

The dead of lizards belonging to three species [Anolis porcatus (Gray, 1841), Hemidactylus mabouia (Moreau de Jonnés, 1818) and Sphaerodactylus elegans (MacLeay, 1834)] into glasses used as domestic decoration in an urban residence in San Antonio de los Baños, Artemisa Province, Cuba, is recorded. Also, parasitism by the pterygosomatid mite Geckobia hemidactylii (Lawrence, 1936) on H. mabouia from this same location is reported, being this the first record for Artemisa Province. Occasional diurnal habits in H. mabouia and S. elegans are mentioned, as well as the capture and dead (not predation) of Anolis sagrei and H. mabouia by a domestic dog (Canis familiaris). New evidences of coprophagy in A. porcatus and communal nesting in H. mabouia are included, too.

Two new species from the genus Cerion Röding, 1878, are described, one of them from the coastal zone of Punta de Guanos, at Matanzas province, and the other from La Raya Cay, Holguín province. These report increase in 18 the number of taxons described for Matanzas and 43 the described for Holguín, raising to 158 the total described to Cuba. Cerion irielii sp. nov., from Punta de Guanos, shows as notable characteristics to have a shell of big size in comparison with the majority of those described for the group, and a greater thickness in the last whorl. Cerion maikei sp. nov., from La Raya Cay, has the greater thickness portion of the conch toward the apical base, at the center, besides having a rough to the touch surface, with axial fissures.

The genus Antillochernes Muchmore, 1984, is recorded for the first time from Hispaniola island. This record is based on two females collected in La Altragracia Province, Dominican Republic, increasing to 11 the number of genera of the family Chernetidae known for this island.

The genus of land tortoises Chelonoidis had a wide distribution across the Caribbean and Bahamian Archipelago during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. Two extinct species of this genus, C. marcanoi Turvey et al., 2017 and C. dominicensis Albury et al., 2018 were recently described from fossils collected in deposits in the southwest and east of the Dominican Republic respectively. Here we review the taxonomic status of Chelonoidis species from Hispaniola based on previously described remains along with new specimens recently collected. More diagnostic elements collected from cave deposits in the southwest Dominican Republic indicate that C. marcanoi is a senior synonym of C. dominicensis. This species was distributed across the south of eastern Hispaniola, including the Northern and Southeast Paleo-island. The new collection of fossils from the Pedernales rigion also includes associated elements of an undescribed species, Chelonoidis gersoni sp. nov., closely related to C. cubensis and C. marcanoi. The triangular-shaped gular projection of the epiplastron of this new species of Chelonoidis is unique among tortoises of this genus.

The objective of this study was to determine the diversity of freshwater fish at different times of the year in Resbaladero, Holguin, Cuba. Nine species were recorded in both periods of the year, located in three orders, six families and eight genera. The species with the highest densities at both times of the year are Girardinus denticulatus (9.85 and 5.34 ind/m2) and Gambusia punticulata (9.36 and 6.17 ind/m2), densities corresponding to the dry and rainy season. The site with the highest species richness in both periods was Colorado dam with seven species in dry and six in rainy. Unlike the Urbano Pérez water well with only one species in both periods of the year. In relation to fairness in both periods, the sites with the highest values were Claro Bajo 2 stream and Claro Bajo stream. Colorado dawn was the site with the greatest diversity in both periods, with values of 1.17 and 1.44, respectively. Colorado dam was the place that presented the least number of replacements among species in the dry season with the Los Ninos (1.0) water well and in the rainy season with the Claro Bajo stream (0.75). The gamma diversity allowed to establish that the replacement between species predominates in this set of communities. The similarity analysis made it possible to form three large groups in the dry season and two in the rainy season. The species that contributed the most to the dissimilarity were G. denticulatus, G. punticulata and G. punctata.

The assembly of communities is often viewed as a process involving the dispersal of species from a regional pool. An oceanic island provides a unique opportunity to test such a hypothesis and many others related to the patterns and processes behind biodiversity. Our aim was to investigate the patterns of scorpion diversity in the Cuban archipelago, using biotic and abiotic variables and their interactions as explanatory features. We use biotic and abiotic variables related to vegetation, climate and topography characterize the landscape of the Cuban archipelago. In this way, we analyze the patterns of beta diversity of the scorpions, verifying the effects of the variables alone and together. Scorpion fauna of the Cuban archipelago comprises 61 species, grouped into nine genera and two families: Buthidae and Diplocentridae. The interplay between biotic and abiotic variables explained scorpion species composition, especially when spatial predictors were considered. Climatic and spatial predictors affected scorpion beta diversity in terms of richness difference. These patterns are discussed emphasizing the role of biotic and abiotic environmental features and their interactions on the mechanisms of scorpion biodiversity generation and maintenance in Cuban archipelago.

Specimens of the extinct sloth genus Neocnus recovered from northwestern La Altagracia Province, Dominican Republic exhibit a unique zygomatic arch. The arch consists of the jugal anteriorly fused to the maxilla and the zygomatic arch ligament fully ossified between the jugal and the zygomatic process of the temporal bone. Evidence of the novel ossification is seen in adult and juvenile individuals. This occurrence is also unexpected as Neocnus individuals are 40 times smaller than the next sloth genus (e.g. Nothrotheriops) with a secondarily complete arch. No known species of Neocnus exhibits any of these jugal and zygomatic features and thus these specimens may represent a new species.

It is registered as a subfossil of the endemic bat species Natalus primus Anthony, 1919, on the basis of a skull recovered on the floor of the Salón de los Megalitos, from the cave Las Anemolitas, municipality of Gibara, in the north of eastern Cuba. The specimen referred here was compared with cranial materials of other Cuban bats, with analysis of qualitative and quantitative characters, as well as with measurements, photos, and existing drawings in the bibliography. This nataleid is currently extirpated in most of the Cuban territory, with only a relict population in a cave in the western end of the archipelago. The present finding of N. primus demonstrates the diversity of Chiroptera that once existed in the region where the fossil deposit treated here is located.