Siren lacertina Österdam, 1766

Holbrook (1842e:101, pl. 34) provided a lengthy and detailed account of the Greater Siren, which he incorrectly attributed to Linnaeus (1767). He reported extensive familiarity with this species and having collected numerous specimens. Thus, it seems curious that very few museum specimens attributed to him survive. The MCZ catalog reports three specimens in two lots (MCZ A-145–6) received from Agassiz on 20 February 1862. Of these, MCZ A-145 was not present during our visit or during a 1996 collection survey. The other lot of two (MCZ A-146) consists of only a single tiny (~ 9mm) skull and a few vertebrae; the other putative specimen was not present. No other Siren specimens were found in extant collections associated with Holbrook. Whether the skull (MCZ A-146) is actually S. lacertina or possibly S. intermedia or Pseudobranchus striatus (see below) is unknown.