AN ACCOUNT OF THE CRUSTACEA COLLECTED BY THE 

 WALKER EXPEDITION TO SANTA MARTA, COLOMBIA. 



By A. S. Peaese, 



Honorary Curator of Crustacea, University of Michigan. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The Crustacea of Colombia have been studied now and then, and 

 some species have been described which are not known to occur 

 elsewhere, but no one has ever visited the country for the express 

 purpose of studying its carcinological fauna. It was with great 

 pleasure, therefore, that the writer accepted an invitation to accom- 

 pany the Walker Expedition, sent during the summer of 1913 by 

 the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, to investigate the 

 region about Santa Marta, on the southern shore of the Caribbean 

 Sea. A general account of the country has been published elsewhere 

 (Pearse, '14). 



This part of South America offers an admirable variety of habitats. 

 The map (fig. 1) gives the general features of the country. Along the 

 coast there is a strip of desert about 7 miles wide, the flora of which 

 consists largely of acacias and great cacti. Beyond this the moun- 

 tains rise abruptly to the snow peaks of the Sierras. From July 1 

 to 26 the party made its headquarters on the Cincmnati Coffee Plan- 

 tation, at an altitude of 4,500 feet, whence it was possible in a single 

 day to tramp to the top of San Lorenzo (8,300 feet) and return, or to 

 go down to Minca (2,000 feet). The mountains were covered with a 

 luxuriant forest and it rained every afternoon. From July 28 to 

 August 4 we studied the fauna about ''La Rosa," an irrigated tract 

 of land in the midst of a desert, the aridity of which was relieved 

 somewhat by swift streams originating in the mountains above. 

 From the desert we went to Fundacion, a vUlage on the bank of a 

 good-sized river which flowed rapidly over a sandy bottom. Here it 

 was extremely hot and there was rain only twice during the two weeks 

 of our stay. The surrounding country was rather dry and sandy; 

 the forest bemg less dense than in the mountams above. Two daj^s, 

 August 22 and 23, were spent in the mangrove swamps along the 

 Cienaga Grande on Tasajera Isla. After that (August 25 to 30) head- 

 quarters were made in Santa Marta and the sluggish rivers in that 

 vicinity were explored. A trip was also made to Gaira, a village 

 down the coast near the mouth of a river. 



Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. 49— No. 2123. 



531 



