Soon Come...

I think I have a complete set of Telogia Fundulus DNA extractions ready to have sequenced. This includes known F. lineolatus and F. notti, the species to the east and west of this location. Assuming that all goes well, then I'll have to do the editing on the raw sequences so we'll have all 1140 bases in the cyt-b gene and plug it into Mr. Bayes for treebuilding.

On a paraellel track, I think I've figured out what I want to do in Panama next May on my return trip. The Smithsonian has a small field station in the Fortuna Protected Area in Chiriqui Province near the Costa Rican border, up in the cloud forest at 1100 m elevation just on the Pacific side of the continental divide. At that elevation the weather is like a North American spring, rarely hot and with lots of rain. My plan is to work the drainage system of the Rio Chiriqui that starts there looking for Brachyrhaphis populations and ultimately their parasites. I also hope to visit the other side of the divide in Bocas del Toro province, draining to the Caribbean. The point of this work would be to assess both host population and species patterns, and look at the parasites which usually coevolve with the host. So we might only spend three days in Panama City this time before heading way to the west. This all has to be approved by the Smithsonian, of course, but I think they'll like it. This time I already have a Perfect Dipnet and the relevant vaccinations, so the preparation should be easier. Y en espanol: aun falta mucho.