Page last updated
27 September 2003

The Adventures of Dr. Mark Sabaj
in South America

During the last two weeks of August 2003, Dr. Mark Sabaj of the Academy of Natural Sciences spent time in Peru collecting specimens and making contacts on behalf of the MUSSEL Project. The following report was submitted by Mark following his return and recovery.

"Unfortunately, high water conditions did not permit effective sampling of the mussel beds identified during my 1997 trip to Peru. However, I did not return empty handed...thanks to a women in the Mercado Belen who seems to have fresh bivalves for sale every time I visit Iquitos. For a few solés I managed to purchase and return with a nice series of large Anodontites specimens.

"The market is also a good place to find tasty apple snails. However, guessing that Dan and Kevin's enthusiasm for snails would equal that of the girl selling them, I decided not to purchase any."

	Local mollusk vendors in Mercado Belen, Peru. Dr. Sabaj purchased the mussels (genus Anodontites) in the picture on the left.

"I also met with Linder Isuiza, an old friend who currently works at the Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonia Peruana (IIAP) in Iquitos. A keen field biologist, Linder accompanied me on the 1997 trip that yeilded the large collection of bivalves from the Rio Itaya (specimens vouchered at INHS). The Itaya is a medium sized whitewater river (i.e., sediment laden) that parallels the Rio Amazonas for much of its course and joins it at Iquitos. Linder agreed to return to the Itaya site once the waters subside and search for the elusive molluscos.

"The trip did yield a nice collection of fishes from the ichthyologically-rich (but apparently mussel-free) Rio Nanay. The Nanay is a relatively clear blackwater river (i.e., tanin-stained) that drains into the Rio Amazonas just north of Iquitos. Joining me on the opposite end of the seine were Norma Salcedo, a Lima-native currently in the doctoral program at Texas Tech, Lubbock, and Brian Sidlauskas, doctoral student at the University of Chicago. Aside from being an excellent seiner, Norma was especially helpful in obtaining the proper permits in Iquitos. As in years past, Enrique Rios Isern, a professor at the Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana, guided us through the small maze of agencies and personnel responsible for authorizing the collection and export of the mussel and fish specimens.

"I am hopeful that next year's trip to Iquitos will produce a litany of bivalves for Dan and Kevin's MUSSEL Project."

Dr. Mark Sabaj's expedition was funded by a grant to DLG from the National Science Foundation. For more information about Dr. Sabaj and his research, click here.