XVI REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
The scientific laboratory attached to the marine station at Wood’s 
Holl, Mass., was opened as usual during the summer of 1888, the Com- 
missioner being present during most of the time. The assistants engaged 
in Fish Commission work were employed only for the season, and in 
addition the facilities of the laboratory were granted to several biologists 
interested in the study of marine life. The persons in attendance were 
representatives of a number of the prominent scientific institutions of the 
country, and by their presence and cooperation they added very greatly 
to the value of the practical results obtained. The institutions thus 
represented were as follows : University of Pennsylvania, Harvard Uni- 
versity, Johns Hopkins University, Princeton College, Williams College, 
University of Indiana, Swarthmore College, Wooster University, and 
the Lake Laboratory at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Prof. John A. Ryder, 
of the University of Pennsylvania, a former assistant on the Fish Com- 
mission, was in direct charge of the scientific work. 
The opportunities for research afforded by the Wood’s Holl labora- 
tory have been fully described in previous reports. Hot only is the 
equipment well adapted to the study of marine problems of nearly 
every essential character, but the geographical position of the station 
with respect to a large assemblage of useful fishes gives it unusual ad- 
vantages from the standpoint of the practical objects of the Commission. 
The transfer of the steamer Albatross to the Pacific coast and the 
detail of the steamer Fish Rawh to the investigation of oyster-grounds 
have for the time removed the principal means of obtaining material 
from the offshore regions, and it has been necessary to restrict the 
researches chiefly to such inquiries as are offered by the immediate 
vicinity of the shores, but in this way the requirements of fish-culture 
have been more directly benefited, as the most important fisheries of 
the region are located within the bays and sounds or directly adjacent 
thereto. 
The studies of Prof. Ryder have related chiefly to fche life history of 
the sea bass and the Atlantic sturgeon, two important species, the 
artificial propagation of which may soon become expedient. The 
material bearing upon the sturgeon was obtained in Delaware Bay the 
previous spring, but the sea bass is one of the most highly prized fishes 
of the Vineyard Sound region, where it breeds during May and June. 
Mr. S. F. Denton, an experienced naturalist and artist, was employed 
in making colored drawings of the principal food-fishes indigenous to 
these waters, and Mr. C. F. Hodge was occupied with the natural 
history of the common starfish, the most serious and destructive enemy 
of the oyster on the Hew England coast. Other investigations have 
had reference to .the cod, .scup, tautog, mackerel, bonito, lobster, and 
soft clam. Summarizing the work accomplished, Prof. Ryder states 
that at least eight important monographic reports may be expected as 
the outcome wholly or in part of the investigations carried on at Wood’s 
Holl during the season. 
