Sylvia van Leeuwen

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Sylvia's goal during Critter Quest is to better map the land and freshwater snails of the island, together with Tello Neckheim. In 2015, I made an initial overview of the land snails of Saba together with two other persons, but this probably does not provide a complete picture. Like other Caribbean islands, Saba has a special land snail fauna with several species that only occur on a few islands of the Lesser Antilles and therefore they are vulnerable.

 

In recent years, several species of land flatworms have been found in the Netherlands Antilles. These are exotic species that eat land snails and can pose a serious threat to native species. Some species of land flatworms also pose a risk to public health. My second area of focus is therefore collecting more information about the occurrence and distribution of terrestrial flatworms on Saba, so that it can be better assessed whether measures are necessary.

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Sylvia will be on Saba from January 17-31, 2025. We will be updating our calendar with activity dates and times as we continue to coordinate our event. Stay tuned!

 

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