Here we use the citizen science platform iNaturalist to assess the rarity of the color abnormality from an Iguana iguana individual reported by López and Mora (2025). Our assessment of the coloration of over 8,000 I. iguana records from Costa Rica and western Panama reveals that the reported abnormality, suggested to be piebaldism, is far more common than indicated. We identify 390 records that show iguanas with piebaldism, which mostly originate from the mid- and south-Pacific coast of Costa Rica. We find that piebaldism occurs in both sexes, and appears to be mostly restricted to adults, with only a few records from subadults and young adults. The identification of one record from a juvenile iguana suggests a potential ontogenetic development of this color abnormality, which is known from the iguanid Ctenosaura oedirhina. Although not all iguanas within the region have piebaldism, our data suggest this concerns a regional color morph. We propose that researchers from the region perform a detailed study on the distribution and diversity of this color abnormality, as well as the underlying genetic, cellular, and physiological conditions. Overall, we show that citizen science platforms can aid the understanding of potential unique in-situ observations, and recommend naturalists to evaluate their observations using such platforms.

Se documenta la distribución de Scaevola taccada (Gaertn.) Roxb. en las costas de las islas de Útila, Roatán, Guanaja y Cayos Cochinos, en el departamento de Islas de la Bahía, Honduras. Esta especie, perteneciente a la familia Goodeniaceae, es considerada invasora debido a su rápida expansión y capacidad de dispersión a través de frutos flotantes. Se realizó un muestreo en la playa Pumpkin Hill, Útila, donde se tomaron registros fotográficos. Los resultados indican que S. taccada está presente en varias islas del archipiélago, con 35 observaciones registradas en la plataforma iNaturalist. Se discuten los impactos ecológicos de la especie sobre la vegetación nativa y la nidificación de tortugas marinas, así como la necesidad de establecer estrategias de control para mitigar su expansión.

The Giant False Donax, Iphigenia brasiliensis (Lamark, 1818), is a mollusk species endemic to the eastern coast of Brazil, throughout the Caribbean, and the southeastern United States. To date, only the South American populations have been studied extensively. The goal of this short paper is to provide baseline morphological measurements of the Giant False Donax from shells recovered from a coastal archaeological site on the Atlantic Ocean side of Florida, U. S. A. A total of 235 shells were measured for length, height, and weight, and the data were compared to existing size measurements from studies conducted in Brazil. Additionally, location data were gathered from the citizen science app iNaturalist to show the modern range of the Giant False Donax. Through iNaturalist, only a small number of Giant False Donax have been observed recently in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, possibly due to more familiarity with the species there. The morphological and species distribution data of this paper can be used by biologists and archaeologists alike for comparison.

The Caribbean region is a biodiversity hotspot facing numerous anthropogenic threats. A key step to protect the flora and fauna of a given area is characterizing the distribution of organisms through time and space. Unfortunately, our current understanding of the distribution of Caribbean aquatic insects, including caddisflies (Trichoptera), remains poor. This impediment, termed the Wallacean shortfall, can be remedied by broad faunistic studies. Based on recently collected caddisfly material, we identify four new province records for the Dominican Republic and five new department records for Honduras, including three new genus records for the department of Islas de la Bahía. Finally, we briefly discuss other notable records and future targets of Trichoptera research of these areas.

Se registra por primera vez la presencia de Unicorniella hatueyi Yong, 2019 (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Conocephalinae) en Puerto Rico, a partir de un macho adulto colectado en Maricao, al oeste de Puerto Rico, el 11 de diciembre del 2000; el cual está depositado en el Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, La Habana, Cuba. Anteriormente, esta especie solo se conocía de Cuba y de la República Dominicana. Este hallazgo demuestra aún más las similitudes entre la biota cubana, hispaniolana y puertorriqueña.

Invasive species pose a significant threat to island ecosystems, with reptilian species in the Lesser Antilles at particular risk. This study assessed the population density and distribution of the invasive species Anolis richardii in Tobago, comparing it to its native range in Grenada. Three forest types were surveyed on Tobago using visual encounter methods: Lower Montane Rainforest, Lowland Rainforest, and Seasonal Deciduous Forest. A total of 174 Anolis richardii were recorded. The highest density occurred in the Seasonal Deciduous Forest, which was the most disturbed habitat. No A. richardii were found in the Lower Montane Rainforest, the least disturbed habitat. This strong habitat specificity contrasts with the catholic distribution found on its native island of Grenada. These findings support theories that disturbed habitats are more easily invaded, whilst intact species diversity increases resistance to invasion.

Vegetable and fruit crops are susceptible to multiple diseases that can affect yield and the quality of the produce. The current research aims to detect and assess emerging diseases in multiple crops including tomato, sweet pepper, potato, apple, corn, and grape through a new digital tool which will enhance crop health monitoring. This tool is capable of classifying plant diseases irrespective of crop. To enhance detection accuracy, all images were resized and then segmented using the GrabCut method to isolate the leaf regions. The segmented images were subsequently converted to HSV color space and grayscale before feature extraction was performed. A total of 96 features were extracted, including color histograms, Local Binary Pattern (LBP), and Gray-Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM). The Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) algorithm was employed for disease classification. This study utilized 27,691 images from the PlantVillage dataset, and the proposed model achieved a classification accuracy of 97.20%, 100.0%, 97.68%, 97.01%, 87.94%, and 97.91% for tomato, sweet pepper, potato, apple, corn, and grape respectively.

Este trabajo analiza 34 muestras de pigmentos usados en la decoración de cerámica encontradas en el yacimiento de El Caño, Panamá. Los análisis se realizaron con un SEM (con un detector EDS acoplado) y un espectometro FTIR (ATR). Las muestras analizadas son pigmentos de diferentes tonalidades de colores negros, rojos, blancos y azules/morados. El objetivo de este trabajo es evaluar los materiales usados en la decoración de cerámicas de los complejos Cubitá, Conte, Macaracas y Mendoza (600–1520 E.C). Los resultados arrojan evidencias del empleo de arcillas/tierras en la elaboración de los pigmentos. Adicionalmente, se observan en los análisis EDS concentraciones especialmente significativas de carbono, principalmente en los colores negros, que sugiere el empleo de materiales orgánicos e inorgánicos en su preparación. La homogeneidad en el empleo de las materias primas sugiere cierta continuidad cultural en los materiales usados en la decoración de cerámicas acorde con un origen común y apuntan a un desarrollo endógeno de la producción artesanal en la región.

Elaphoglossum serpens is a narrowly endemic fern with a restricted distribution in the cloud forests of Toro Negro State Forest, Puerto Rico. To assess its population status, we conducted a two-year field study across 38.56 hectares (156,849 m2) of cloud forest in Toro Negro and adjacent private lands. We rediscovered a small population of Elaphoglossum serpens at its type locality, Cerro Jayuya, where it was previously thought to be extirpated, and documented another population at Cerro Punta for the first time since it was last collected there in 1984. While E. serpens was once considered to be common, during our recent assessment we found a total of only seven remaining individuals in two subpopulations which are approximately two kilometers apart, highlighting a sharp population decline likely driven by landscape modification, habitat fragmentation, and hurricane impacts. Additionally, we documented the presence of two other threatened Puerto Rican endemic species in the same habitat: the tree Ilex cookii Britton & P.Wilson (Aquifoliaceae), with 147 individuals, and the tree-fern Alsophila dryopteroides (Maxon) R.M. Tryon (Cyatheaceae), with 190 individuals. These findings underscore the urgent need for conservation measures to protect E. serpens and its fragile cloud forest habitat.