REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. LXXXV 
coast sturgeon (Acipenser sturio ), but in addition be obtained a 
large collection of specimens representing the larval and post-larval 
stages of other fishes, *on which his observations will be continued at 
Philadelphia. The work on the sturgeon was begun inJDelaware Bay 
the previous spring, and was taken up with the object of preparing a 
comprehensive monograph on this important food species, whose rapid 
decrease in abundance is creating much apprehension among the fish- 
ermen. The results obtained, discussed elsewhere under the heading 
of the species, furnish the necessary information on which to base a 
successful system of artificial propagation. Regarding the material 
collected during the summer, Prof. Ryder states that it will help mate- 
rially to fill in many existing gaps between the embryo and adult forms 
of fishes, thereby tending to throw much light upon the life history and 
habits of certain marine species respecting which more comjjlete records 
are desired. Recognizing the importance of recording permanently the 
shape and coloration of the young as well as the adult stages of food- 
fishes, for the benefit of fish-culturists and of others interested in the 
subject from either a practical or a scientific standpoint, the services 
of Mr. S. P. Denton, an excellent artist and experienced naturalist, were 
secured for that purpose. His colored sketches made during the season 
represent twenty-three species, and were prepared from living specimens 
confined in the aquaria. This series, when completed, will, according 
to Prof. Ryder, “constitute a monograph of the most enduring, economic, 
and scientific value, as a contribution to fish-cultural literature.” 
The investigations of the scientific experts at the laboratory cov- 
ered a wide range of subjects respecting the embryology, anatomy, his- 
tology, and physiology of fishes and marine invertebrates, such as the 
general and specific development of fishes, their osteology, the growth, 
structure, and functions of the different alimentary organs, the vascu- 
lar system, the kidney, the brain, and other nerve tissues ; the devel- 
opment, anatomy, and physiology of the king crab, the bait squid, 
annelids, ascidians, planarians, etc. Mr. C. F. Hodge, who had been 
engaged as naturalist to the steamer Fish Hawh for the oyster- starfish 
investigations in Providence River and Long Island Sound, began at 
Wood’s Holl certain observations regarding the natural history of the 
starfish, with special reference to ascertaining what, if any, animals, 
preyed upon that species, and their relations to it. Dr. Brooks con- 
tinued his elaborate studies on the life histories of the medusae and 
hydromedusse, begun some ten or twelve years before, and conducted 
previously on the southern Atlantic coast of the United States and at 
the Bahama Islands. The monograph which he now has in prepara- 
tion will be one of the most complete and important ever published on 
these interesting groups, the wonderful transformations undergone by 
the different species being fully illustrated by the author’s drawings. 
In the course of his summer’s experiments Dr. Brooks found that deli- 
cate marine organisms will retain their form and structure and remain 
