Proof Only Proof Only Caribbean Journal of Science NOTES Caribbean Journal of Science, Vol. 42, No. 2, 000–000, 2006 Copyright 2006 College of Arts and Sciences University of Puerto Rico, Mayagu ¨ ez A historical review of records of the West Indian manatee and the American crocodile in the Dutch Antilles ADOLPHE O. DEBROT 1* , G. VAN BUURT 2 , ANDY CABALLERO 3 AND ANDRZEJ A. ANTC- ZAK 41 Carmabi Foundation, Piscaderabaai z/n, P.O. Box 2090, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles, 2 Department of Agriculture and Fisheries of Curaçao, Klein Kwartier 33, Curaçao, Nether- lands Antilles, 3 St. Maarten Nature Founda- tion, P.O.Box 863, Philipsburg, St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, 4 Instituto de Estudios Regionales y Urbanos, Universidad Simón Bo- livar, Apartado 89144, USB Módulo, Caracas 1086A, Venezuela. *Corresponding author: adebrot@cura.net ABSTRACT.—We discuss the significance of two manatee records for the Dutch Windward Islands (Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten) as well as six man- atid and one crocodile record for the Dutch Leeward Islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao). The persistence of the manatee in the Lesser Antilles until the early 17 th century suggests that in pre-Columbian times manatees would have also occurred regularly in the Dutch Windward Islands. In pre-Columbian times, suitable habitat for the American crocodile was suf- ficient in the Dutch Leeward Islands to have sup- ported small resident populations, and habitat for the manatee was possibly also present. Both species have been widely hunted by early humans and we surmise that small, isolated populations of these spe- cies could easily have been extirpated on the Dutch Leeward Islands well prior to European coloniza- tion. However, two manatee sightings within the last five years, suggest that these islands may somehow still form part of the active range of this rare and elusive species. KEYWORDS.—Trichechus manatus, Crocodylus acu- tus, manatee, crocodile, Caribbean, Netherlands An- tilles, Aruba The West Indian manatee, Trichechus ma- natus, is widely distributed throughout the West Indies but has been extirpated throughout much of its range, therewith becoming rare and even endangered in most countries in which it still occurs. The species is typically associated with estua- rine and seagrass habitat, and where avail- able shows a strong preference for freshwa- ter (Lefebvre et al. 1989; Ortíz 2001; Morales-Vela et al. 2003). Archeological finds indicate that the species was widely used by the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the region (McKillop 1985; Mercado 1990; Riviera and Rodríguez 1991; Scudder 1991; UNEP 1995). Nevertheless, remains of the manatee are surprisingly rare in Amerin- dian midden deposits, possibly because they were butchered at shore and only the meat was carried back to the home site (Newsom and Wing 2004). There may also have been taboos imposed on their hunting and consumption. Keeping in mind that ritual artifacts, such as the vomitic spatulas used in the ritual of the cohoba, were usu- ally made out of manatee bones by the Tainos from the Greater Antilles, the mana- tee might have been considered a ‘special’ animal within the Amerindian cultural tax- onomy. During the colonial era the species was hunted for its fine meat, oil, bone and leather (Husar 1978). The American crocodile, Crocodylus acu- tus, is a large estuarine predator that like- wise has a wide distribution within the Caribbean basin. This species depends on fresh and/or brackish water for osmoregu- lation (Mazotti et al. 1988) but is capable of traversing large stretches of open sea to colonise oceanic islands in the region. We here review and discuss several manatee and one crocodile record for the Dutch Antillean islands that comprise two island groups separated by about 900 km of open sea (Fig. 1). The records are further discussed with reference to historical use of the animals by the inhabitants of the re- gion. The islands of Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Martin lie in the Lesser Antilles east of the British Virgin Islands and are typically re- ms. received April 19, 2005; accepted August 3, 2005 1 F1