The invertebrate fauna of tropical American caves, Part III: Jamaica, an introduction

The scattered literature on the physical speleology and biospeleology of the West Indian island of Jamaica is brought together. As a result of recent field work, a summary of the Jamaican vertebrate and invertebrate caves is given. The invertebrate fauna is known to include some 150 free-living macroscopic species. These are mostly troglophilic scavengers and predators associated with guano accumulations. However, some 25 species, mostly terrestrial and undescribed, are known to be troglobites. This is one of the largest known assemblages of tropical troglobites. Brief descriptions are given for the 54 cave sites which have been biologically studied