138 MARINE SCIENCE 
The Cuarmman. Dr. Ray, as long as you have suggested it, we have 
a statement for the record from Dr. Ross Nigrelli, director of the 
Laboratory of Marine Biochemistry and Ecology, New York Aquar- 
ium, who makes this statement, and this doesn’t involve research 
but involves effects of things you are talking about on human con- 
sumption : 
Some years ago I indictaed to fisheries biologists that the possibility existed 
that our beautiful rainbow trout may be susceptible to liver cancer under the 
artificial conditions that are presently employed in our hatcheries. In the 
early part of 1960, liver tumors were noticed in rainbow trout in California 
and Washington, and this condition has since been found to be widespread in 
all hatcheries in this country. I am reporting this item to point out one of the 
problems that illustrates the importance of including the Public Health Service 
in your proposed program of marine science. Cancer is found among all fishes, 
and the growths are no different from those that occur in man and animals 
generally. 
Is that a correct statement ? 
Dr. Ray. That certainly is. 
I would like to add one bit to it, and that is a point I think I men- 
tioned last year, too, which is a very curious one and so far still quite 
uninvestigated: that these growths—the hematomas, for example, in 
the rainbow trout—do affect fishes and, as Dr. Nigrell said, man and 
animals generally. That is true if by “animal” we mean vertebrate 
animals. But it is a very interesting sidelight that among marine 
invertebrate animals—like clams, worms, star fish, and so on—there 
has never yet been a single case of cancer found. This may be be- 
cause nobody has looked hard enough. But many of these animals 
have been looked at very carefully and studied anatomically; it is 
still unreported, a single case of cancerous growth in invertebrate 
marine animals. And if this should turn out to be true, I think this 
is a very important thing to turn our attention to, whether this type 
of growth is something that is rather unique for vertebrate animals 
and does not affect the invertebrates. 
The Cuarrman. Of course, the immediate thing is to obtain as much 
information as we can get. 
I have heard that this may come out of hatcheries—I think Dr. 
Donaldson and I talked about this once—it could be due to the type 
of food they give them. But if it is found in all fishes it must be 
the normal, natural food in the sea, probably. I point this up to 
show that this is a very important immediate thing that needs doing. 
The American people are consuming more and more fish, and that is 
good, because it is a great food and with the technological handling 
of fish, with refrigeration, it will become even greater. This is a very 
important thing for the American people, or other people throughout 
the world who eat fish. 
Dr. Ray. The important thing is the need to do the research on it 
now before the problem becomes serious. 
There are other questions, too, questions such as why whales and 
parpeiee: can dive to and return from great depths without suffering 
om the bends. 
The Cuarrman. The Navy is working on that ? 
Dr. Ray. Yes, indeed. net 
fap Cuairman. They have some porpoises they are experimenting 
with. 
