Field journal of the expeditions to the southern Bahamas, the islands off the south coast of Cuba, and the Cayman Islands, under the grant of the Walter Rathbone Bacon Traveling Scholarship, 1930
This journal documents collections Bartsch made on the islands in the southern Bahamas, off the coast of Cuba, and the Cayman Islands from 3 June to 1 October 1930. Bartsch collects a wide variety of life. As he summarizes on page 179, “the expedition yielded more than 25,00 mollusks, 925 birds, 596 reptiles and batrachians, some mammals, fish and general invertebrates, as well as a fine collection of bird parasites secured by Mr. Peters”. The journal provides narrative accounts of collecting trips and includes information such as what specimens were observed or collected, the abundance or rarity of specimens, and descriptions of the surrounding environment. Most mollusks collected were gastropods. Some commonly occurring genera include cerion (family: Ceriidae), hemitrochus (family: Helminthoglyptidae), helicina (family: Helicinidae Latreille), and macroceramus (family: Urocoptinae). Localities include but are not limited to Cay Sal, Ragged Islands, Sand Cay (Turks), and Guantanamo (Cuba). “Tin tags used on alcoholic specimen” include numbers 100-317. 186 pages.
Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu.
