Baseline Morphology Measurements of the Giant False Donax (Iphigenia brasiliensis) in Florida and Distribution Across the Caribbean
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-29-2025
Abstract
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.
Publication
Caribbean Journal of Science
Publisher
University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
Volume
55
Issue
2
Pages
479-484
Department
College of Arts and Sciences
Peer Reviewed
1
Recommended Citation
Saraiva de Almeida, M. G., Watson, A. A., Vokhshoori, N., & Lecher, A. L. (2025). Baseline morphology measurements of the giant false donax (Iphigenia brasiliensis) in Florida and distribution across the Caribbean. Caribbean Journal of Science, 55(2). https://doi.org/10.18475/cjos.v55i2.a17
Comments
This article draws from the thesis research of Maria Gabriella Saraiva de Almeida '21, '23 a Lynn University alumni and the lead author. It marks the first thesis from the biological sciences master's program to be published as a journal article.