225 



universities, government agencies, museums, and foreign organizations will be 

 invited to participate in tlie development and operation of a coordinated and 

 complete oceanographic survey. The Institution will employ personnel and help 

 to support the participation of scientists from Mexico, Central America, and 

 South America as well as from North America in order to secure adequate sam- 

 ples of the diverse organisms present and to provide training and experience in 

 the collection of marine specimens. 



All appropriate qualitative and quantitative methods of collecting and preserv- 

 ing specimens will be utilized in order to provide not only for faunal and floral 

 reports, but also for a sufficient number of specimens for use in genetic, anatomic, 

 and ecological studies. Whenever needed, specimens will be collected in sufficient 

 abundance to permit analyses for contained radioactive elements. The Smith- 

 sonian studies will provide for publication of field guides, monographs, and other 

 reports essential to an understanding of the organisms of the area and their 

 interrelationships. 



The Smithsonian Institution will serve as the core agency to assemble the 

 competencies of the many universities and government and intergovernment 

 agencies which have had long interests in the Isthmian area. Scripps Institution 

 of Oceanograhy, the Institute of Marine Sciences of the University of Miami, the 

 Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, the Environmental Science Services Adminis- 

 tration, and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission are examples of 

 groups which have contributed heavily to the knowledge of the Panama region 

 and which have continuing programs in the area. Also the EASTROPAC pro- 

 gram, a major cooperative research effort, is making direct contributions to 

 Isthmian studies. Active liaison with this program has been established. In 

 addition to its huge storehouse of collections and library facilities, the Smith- 

 sonian brings several in-house areas of competence to the proposed study. 



Of great significance is the existence on the Smithsonian staff of a reservoir 

 of competent scientists. Many of the staff members presently are engaged in 

 problems having a direct bearing on the proposed study ; others plan to initiate 

 such studies, while still others have indicated a strong desire to serve in an 

 advisory capacity to the program. 



EXAMPLES OF SCIENTISTS AND SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMS BEARING A DIRECT RELATIONSHIP 



TO THE PROPOSED STUDY 



A. Museum af Natural History 



(1) Dr. Robert Gibbs, in cooperation with university scientists, has initiated 

 a detailed study of a complete water column with particular regard to the dis- 

 tribution and ecology of fishes from both seasonal and diurnal points of view. 

 This study currently is being undertaken in an area near the Bahamas ; how- 

 ever. Dr. Gibbs wants to establish sampling locations on both sides of the Isthmus 

 if funding is made available. (2) Dr. Clyde Roper, a cephalopod specialist co- 

 operating within the existing program, would like to concentrate his activities on 

 cephalopod populations in the same water column. Dr. Roper has had considera- 

 ble experience in the area, having worked in the waters off Panama, Colombia, 

 and Educador. His dissertation involved specimens from the Bay of Panama. (3) 

 Dr. Thomas Bowman would like to expand his studies of copepods and hyperiid 

 amphipods to the Isthmian area. He has recently published work on Puerto Rican 

 species. (4) Dr. Raymond Manning has worked on the stomatopods of the area 

 and is anxious to continue this work. (5) Dr. Meredith Jones would pursue 

 studies of benthic ecology with particular emphasis on the polychaete worms. 

 (6) Dr. James Peters plans studies on the marine turtles and sea snakes of the 

 area with particular emphasis on the possible invasion of Pacific snakes into 

 the Atlantic. (7) Dr. Ernest Lachner plans to initiate a tagging study of marine 

 fish movement in the area. (8) Dr. Victor Springer, an expert on the blennioid 

 fishes, has published on fishes of the Isthmian area. He would like to continue 

 and expand his studies, especially in the inshore area. (9) Dr. Grant Gross has 

 done considerable work on the Columbia River plume in tracing the distribution 

 of radionuclides in the open ocean. Dr. Gross would like to develop a tracer study 

 in the event that the proposed canal is constructed using nuclear techniques. (10) 

 Dr. Jack Pierce, who is interested in the sediment budget of coastal areas, would 

 like to study the bulk transport of sediments resulting from the interconnection 

 of the two oceans. He Avould conduct base line studies prior to canal construction. 

 (11) Several members of the staff of the Museum Division of Paleobiology have 

 interests in studies of the outcroppings which will be revealed during the con- 



