Download Notes from 8/31

Excerpts from Baird and Girard Railroad Survey
S. C. Rafinesque (1783-1840)
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French Zoologist, botanist, geologist
Erratic genius
Moved to US (Kentucky)
Described thousands of species (mostly
plants)
Proposed new classification systems
Described a number of prominent
genera:
– Notropis
– Pomoxis
– Noturus
– Hypentelium
– Aplodinotus
– Lepomis
Notropis rafinesque
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Louis Agassiz
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Swiss born, American zoologist.
First to propose ice ages
Last prominent creationist zoologist
Ironically, published volumes on fossil fishes thus
paving the way for evolutionary studies of fishes.
Moved to the US in 1850’s after publishing
Nomenclator Zoologicus, a list of all known genera.
Harvard professor of Zoology and Geology
Founded Ponikese Marine Lab (precursor to Woods
Hole)
Founded Museum of Comparative Zoology (Harvard)
Student of Cuvier, Adviser to David Star Jordan
Apistogramma agassizi
David Starr Jordan (1851-1931)
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Would describe himself as North Americas greatest ichthyologist
President of U of Indiana, Stanford
1372 publications, 645 ichthyological
Published “Guide to the study of fishes”, “Days of a man” and
“Fishes of North and Middle America” 4 volume set
Etheostoma jordani
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American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
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Founded in 1916, named in honor of Edward
Drinker Cope, colleague of Jordan
Publisher of journal Copeia since 1913
Nichols, J. T. "Notes on Fishes near New York." Copeia 1 (1913): 4
Carl Hubs
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Last collaborator of Jordan
Refined Jordan’s North America work
707 publications
– Fishes of the Great Lakes Region
Developed standard for morphological
measurements of fishes
Faculty at Scripts Institute of
Oceanography
Arguably the greatest ichthyologist of
the century.
Father of Clark Hubbs – current faculty
member at U. Texas
Pteronotropis hubbsi
Gambusia clarkhubbsi
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Benjamin Leonard Covington Wailes (1797-1862)
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Educated at Jefferson College
First serious studies of Mississippi fishes
Large collection of fossil mollusks (now
at LSU)
Sent most of his collections to Agassiz at
Harvard
Report on the Agriculture & Geology of Mississippi 1854
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Checklist included 51 marine and freshwater fish
species, plus 12 listed by genus (24 taxa of
freshwater fishes)
List in diary indicates he recognized more species
than were listed
Work done by Wailes, report published by
Agassiz
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Revealing A Fauna Mississippi in 1860
300
Cumulative Fish Species
250
200
150
100
Wailes
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19
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85
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75
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65
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55
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45
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35
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25
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15
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05
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95
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85
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75
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65
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55
0
Collection Year
Freshwater/diadromous
All fishes
Oliver Perry Hay (1846 – 1930)
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Replaced Jordan at Butler University
Collecting expeditions to MS - in 1880 &
1881
First to describe new species from
Mississippi since Wailes - 11 still
recognized
Many years before any other surveys of
MS took place
Hybognathus hayi
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Revealing A Fauna
Mississippi in 1880’s
300
Cumulative Fish Species
250
200
150
Hay
100
50
19
95
19
85
19
75
19
65
19
55
19
45
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35
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25
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15
19
05
18
95
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85
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75
18
65
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55
0
Collection Year
Freshwater/diadromous
All fishes
Frances Adine Cook (1889-1964)
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1927 – left graduate studies in ornithology & position at
Smithsonian to return to Mississippi
Established Mississippi Association for the Conservation of
Wildlife, Served as Executive Secretary
1933-1958 – Director and Curator of State Museum
1933- invited Samuel F. Hildebrand to work on Mississippi
fishes
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Revealing A Fauna
Mississippi in 1930’s
300
Cumulative Fish Species
250
Hildebrand
200
150
100
50
19
95
19
85
19
75
19
65
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55
19
45
19
35
19
25
19
15
19
05
18
95
18
85
18
75
18
65
18
55
0
Collection Year
Freshwater/diadromous
All fishes
Cook & WPA
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1935: State Works Project
funded statewide biological
survey.
Resulted in 1959 publication of
the first state-wide treatise on
Mississippi Fishes
– 154 freshwater fish species
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Revealing A Fauna
Mississippi in 1950’s
300
Cumulative Fish Species
250
Cook & WPA
200
150
100
50
19
95
19
85
19
75
19
65
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55
19
45
19
35
19
25
19
15
19
05
18
95
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85
18
75
18
65
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55
0
Collection Year
Freshwater/diadromous
All fishes
Stephen T. Ross
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Descendant of Agassiz and Jordan
Trained at U. South Florida
Compiled second work documenting
fishes of Mississippi (Inland Fishes of
Mississippi)
Initiated cataloging his own collections
into the USM Museum of Ichthyology
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2012
2 01 3
20 14
2015
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Species Lots
Specimens
40000
30000
800000
600000
0
Specimens
50000
19
19 87
1988
1989
1990
1 99 1
19 92
1993
1 99 4
19 95
1 99 6
19 97
1998
2099
2000
2 00 1
20 02
2003
2 00 4
20 05
2 00 6
07
Species Lots
USM Museum of Ichthyology Growth
1400000
1200000
1000000
20000
400000
10000
200000
0
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Revealing A Fauna
Mississippi in 1970-2004
300
Ross
Cumulative Fish Species
250
200
150
Inland Fishes of
Mississippi
2000
100
50
19
95
19
85
19
75
19
65
19
55
19
45
19
35
19
25
19
15
19
05
18
95
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85
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75
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65
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55
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Collection Year
Freshwater/diadromous
All fishes
Ichthyological Collections
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Large collections in the Southeastern US
– Tulane, Northeastern Louisiana U, U of Tennessee, USM, U of Florida
Why keep ichthyological collections?
Specialist resource:
– archival storage
– revision studies (library)
– genetic analysis?
– distribution analysis
Ecologist & fisheries scientist resource:
– life histories
– ageing
– vouchering specimens
Teaching resource
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