The San José Lagoon ( Spanish: ''Laguna de San José'') is a shallow saline lake or lagoon located between the municipalities of

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

and Carolina in northeast of the main island of

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. Despite being located in a highly urbanized area, this body of water is important for its

mangrove forest Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangrove trees cannot withsta ...

s. The Teodoro Moscoso Bridge directly connects the Luis Muñoz Marín Airport in the Isla Verde resort and residential district to the Hato Rey financial and commercial center in the main metropolitan area of Puerto Rico.

Ecology

The lagoon is of ecological importance due to the

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

forests that grow on its shores which are home to numerous

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...

species of flora and fauna. This ecosystem has been threatened due to the fast urbanization of San Juan and its urban area. Some of the fish species found in the lagoon are tarpon, ladyfish, and the common snook ('' Centropomus undecimalis''). Green iguanas and

caiman A caiman ( (also spelled cayman) from Taíno language, Taíno ''kaiman'') is an alligatorid belonging to the subfamily Caimaninae, one of two primary lineages within the Alligatoridae family (biology), family, the other being alligators. ...

, which are invasive species in the region, are also common in the area.

References

{{Reflist Bodies of water of Puerto Rico Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico Carolina, Puerto Rico San Juan, Puerto Rico Lagoons of the United States

Ecology

See also

References