slope down to depths of 230 fathoms (Bowers, 1900). Dredge samples were obtained from
at a total of 50 stations, including 17 from depths below 20 fathoms (36 meters). Samplings
of slope habitats below 20 fathoms were performed off San Juan and Mayaguez Bays, off
Punta Borinquen in Aguadilla, off the north coast of St. Thomas, and between the islands of
Vieques and Culebra. Species descriptions, bottom types and depths are available for each
dredging station. Unfortunately, geographic coordinates of stations sampled by the Fish
Hawk were not included in the report by the Commissioner (Bowers, 1900).
The Johnson–Smithsonian Expedition to the Puertorrican Deep in 1933 was a sampling
cruise sponsored by Mr. Eldridge R. Johnson, who placed his motor yacht “Caroline” to the
disposal of the Smithsonian Institution, and equipped her with instrumentation to sample the
Puertorrican Trench, off the north coast of Puerto Rico. Most of the dredging effort however
was performed in the Mona Passage, off the north coast of Rincon, Aguadilla, and
throughout the north coast of PR and the USVI. The south coast of PR and the USVI were
not sampled during this exploratory cruise. Bartsch (1933) published a general taxonomic
record of organisms collected with trawling gear at the 109 stations occupied by the
“Caroline” during this expedition (Table 2). The general information on the assemblages of
organisms collected from each station provides inferences of the benthic habitat types that
were sampled. Sampling stations where corals were dredged by the “Caroline” have been
included in the map atlas of deep reefs (this volume).
Specific taxonomic reports from different authors on the collections from the JohnsonSmithsonian Expedition were published by the Smithsonian Institution between 1934 and
1940 (Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 91) in a series of 31 articles describing
new species and geographic records for Puerto Rico and the USVI. New species of
sponges were reported by de Laubenfels (1934); hydroids were described by Fraser (1937);
echinoderms were studied by Clark (1934 a, b, c, d); foraminiferans were examined by
Cushman (1935) and Lalicker (1935); new mollusk records were reported by Bartsch (1934),
Cooper (1934) and Corea (1934); crustaceans were described by Rathburn (1934),
Shoemaker (1934), Wilson (1935) and Tattersall (1937); new fish species were reported
and described by Myers (1935), Schultz (1937) and Reid (1934, 1940).
The R/V Atlantis from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, based in Cuba sampled a
total of three stations in waters of Puerto Rico and the USVI during its “West Indian Cruise”
in 1954. The expedition appears to have been mostly directed to sample pelagic organisms,
as the only reference that was found in our literature search is a paper by Voss (1958) that
identifies species of cephalopods collected during the cruise. The sampling gear used for
16
at a total of 50 stations, including 17 from depths below 20 fathoms (36 meters). Samplings
of slope habitats below 20 fathoms were performed off San Juan and Mayaguez Bays, off
Punta Borinquen in Aguadilla, off the north coast of St. Thomas, and between the islands of
Vieques and Culebra. Species descriptions, bottom types and depths are available for each
dredging station. Unfortunately, geographic coordinates of stations sampled by the Fish
Hawk were not included in the report by the Commissioner (Bowers, 1900).
The Johnson–Smithsonian Expedition to the Puertorrican Deep in 1933 was a sampling
cruise sponsored by Mr. Eldridge R. Johnson, who placed his motor yacht “Caroline” to the
disposal of the Smithsonian Institution, and equipped her with instrumentation to sample the
Puertorrican Trench, off the north coast of Puerto Rico. Most of the dredging effort however
was performed in the Mona Passage, off the north coast of Rincon, Aguadilla, and
throughout the north coast of PR and the USVI. The south coast of PR and the USVI were
not sampled during this exploratory cruise. Bartsch (1933) published a general taxonomic
record of organisms collected with trawling gear at the 109 stations occupied by the
“Caroline” during this expedition (Table 2). The general information on the assemblages of
organisms collected from each station provides inferences of the benthic habitat types that
were sampled. Sampling stations where corals were dredged by the “Caroline” have been
included in the map atlas of deep reefs (this volume).
Specific taxonomic reports from different authors on the collections from the JohnsonSmithsonian Expedition were published by the Smithsonian Institution between 1934 and
1940 (Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 91) in a series of 31 articles describing
new species and geographic records for Puerto Rico and the USVI. New species of
sponges were reported by de Laubenfels (1934); hydroids were described by Fraser (1937);
echinoderms were studied by Clark (1934 a, b, c, d); foraminiferans were examined by
Cushman (1935) and Lalicker (1935); new mollusk records were reported by Bartsch (1934),
Cooper (1934) and Corea (1934); crustaceans were described by Rathburn (1934),
Shoemaker (1934), Wilson (1935) and Tattersall (1937); new fish species were reported
and described by Myers (1935), Schultz (1937) and Reid (1934, 1940).
The R/V Atlantis from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, based in Cuba sampled a
total of three stations in waters of Puerto Rico and the USVI during its “West Indian Cruise”
in 1954. The expedition appears to have been mostly directed to sample pelagic organisms,
as the only reference that was found in our literature search is a paper by Voss (1958) that
identifies species of cephalopods collected during the cruise. The sampling gear used for
16