ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



This monograph is a much revised and expanded out- 

 growth of a work begun at Stanford University in 1958 as 

 a doctoral dissertation under the. guidance of George S. 

 Myers; his instructive and encouraging influences 

 prevailed over so many aspects of the germinal 

 stages of this monograph that it would be impossible to 

 list them, and I will simply express my lasting appreci- 

 ation for his help and innumerable kindnesses devoted to 

 my education. 



Stanley H. Weitzman, then also of Stanford Univer- 

 sity, was equally helpful to the early formative aspects of 

 this work, and he has continued to the present to freely 

 make available on many occasions his osteological, 

 systematic, and phylogenetic expertise. 



The late Margaret H. Storey of Stanford's Natural 

 History Museum was of constant curatorial and biblio- 

 graphic assistance, while the interchange of ideas, tech- 

 niques, and data with my fellow students was most in- 

 valuable and is here gratefully acknowledged, these then 

 student friends being Warren C. Freihofer, Hugh H. 

 DeWitt, and Tyson R. Roberts. 



The majority of this work was done while a member of 

 the curatorial staff of the Academy of Natural Sciences 

 of Philadelphia, and I am especially grateful to H. 

 Radclyffe Roberts, until 1973 its Director, for encour- 

 aging this research during my time there. His under- 

 standing of the vagaries of research is much appreci- 

 ated. My associates there in the Department of Ichthy- 

 ology and Herpetology constantly assisted in the 

 preparation of this monograph, these coworkers being 

 Jane H. Baker, Ann L. Berkes, Warren N. Berkes, 

 Eugenia B. Bohlke, James E. Bohlke, Charles C. G. 

 Chaplin, Kathy Depolito, Lynn Keane, Mark D. Lange, 

 and Judith Silver; I would like to especially single out 

 Judith Silver and Lynn Keane, successive secretary- 

 major domos of the department, for unstinting coopera- 

 tion in every aspect of this work, from typing to proof- 

 reading, and from bibliographic searching to the 

 considerate care of the researcher. I have been blessed 

 by a succession of equally cooperative Eind artistic 

 scientific illustrators whose skillful techniques form 

 a major portion of any merit to this monograph and 

 who were exceptionally pleasant to work closely with: 

 Gail Costanzo, Mary H. Fuges, Olivia B. Hall, Helga 

 0. Kumpera, and Joanne R. Schatz. Additionally, 

 Stephen P. Gigliotti generously gave his advice on il- 

 lustrative matters and James E. Bohlke did so on 

 systematic questions. 



Other members of the Academy of Natural Sciences of 

 Philadelphia were immeasurably helpful in a variety of 

 ways. C. Willard Hart, then editor of Academy publica- 

 tions, provided many helpful suggestions in coordin- 

 ating the manuscript and illustrations, as did the 

 Academy's engraver, Hal Talman, president of 

 Phototype of Philadelphia. Larry Herbert, the late Oliver 

 Bradley, and Joseph Green of the Academy engineering 

 department were always on call to build or repair, often 

 on short notice, the mechanical and electrical contriv- 



ances essential to this project. Beverly Mowbray and 

 Nancy Steele of the publications staff at the Academy 

 could always see a lighter side to a heavy scientific tale. 

 Jesse J. Freese and Mary E. Sink kept the convolutions 

 of budgetary and administrative rules and reports to the 

 efficient minimum. Charles Sibre, and his sons John and 

 Michael Sibre, of the photographic department, grace- 

 fully as well as proficiently provided the 35 mm nega- 

 tives of the cleared and stained specimens that formed 

 the basis for the initial traced outlines for most of the os- 

 teological illustrations presented here. Their good humor 

 in the face of messy containers of glycerine scattered 

 about their studio was remarkable. 



The introductory and concluding portions of this 

 monograph, and of the updating and revisions of the en- 

 tire manuscript, were written while serving as the Direc- 

 tor of the Lerner Marine Laboratory, Bimini, Bahamas, 

 of the American Museum of Natural History, and while 

 on the staff of the Office of Resource Research of the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, Washington, D.C., 

 where Lamarr B. Trott, Chief of the then Division of Re- 

 search Management, provided many kindnesses, and 

 then as a member of the Southeast Fisheries Center of 

 that service, Miami, Fla., where the support of Harvey R. 

 Bullis, Jr., the then Center Director, and William J. 

 Richards, Miami Laboratory Director, and Laurie 

 Smith, secretary to the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Program, 

 were especially helpful. 



Most of the 10 years of research at the Academy of 

 Natural Sciences of Philadelphia leading to the major 

 portion of this monograph were supported in large part 

 by the National Science Foundation through grants 

 GB-1248, GB-5102, GB-6859X, and GB-16190. J. 

 Frances Allen, Richard F. Johnston, William Sievers, 

 and J. T. Spencer, the officers of the National Science 

 Foundation then administering these grants, are sincere- 

 ly thanked for their support, and for doing so with a 

 minimal amount of bureaucratic paper work. The 

 thoughtfulness and trust of the National Science Foun- 

 dation and of their advisory boards and ad hoc com- 

 mittees of colleagues mostly unknown to me is a true 

 pleasure to acknowledge. 



The success of any osteological survey of a speciose 

 worldwide group of fishes such as the plectognaths is 

 dependent on obtaining for dissection specimens repre- 

 senting as many species as possible. The great majority 

 of specimens studied here were either loaned or donated 

 to Stanford University and the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences of Philadelphia by the following cooperative 

 colleagues: Tokiharu Abe, Frederick H. Berry, Harvey 

 R. Bullis, Jr., Daniel M. Cohen, H. Adair Fehlmann, 

 Leslie W. Knapp, Giles W. Mead, George S. Myers, and 

 Robert R. Rofen. Without the specimens from them, my 

 coverage of the plectognaths would be so meager as not to 

 warrant publication. 



Photographic prints of many of the illustrations, used 

 in preference to constant handling for over a decade of 

 the final ink drawings, generously were provided by Vic- 



