72. Report of the President 



RECENT AND EXTINCT FISHES 



EXISTING REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS * 



Bashford Dean, Honorary Curator 

 Mary Cynthia Dickerson, Associate Curator of Herpetology 



FISHES 



The most notable exhibit of fishes opened to public view dur- 

 ing 191 8 is a group representing a large blue shark (Prionace 

 glauca) accompanied by a brood of young. Two 

 Exhibition, small comparative groups have been placed in 



S a ^f °} the systematic cases showing tide-pool fishes of 



Collections, J & < • , « 



etc. the northwest Pacific coast compared with those 



of the southeast Atlantic coast. The viviparous 

 surf-fish in the former compares more or less with brightly 

 colored coral reef species in the latter, and in the same way 

 the northern sculpin-like fish resembles the southern goby; an 

 eel-like northern blenny is contrasted with a shorter bodied 

 tropical one. In addition, comparative models of lamprey and 

 hagfish heads have been placed on exhibition ; models of sexual 

 variation in Arctic sculpins, and the evolution of a ventral 

 sucking disk through various fish families, have been prepared. 

 Many new specimens have been prepared to fill in the series in 

 the systematic cases. The department preparator, Mr. F. F. 

 Horter, has meanwhile been able to improve greatly his tech- 

 nique for casting alcoholic fishes for exhibition and reproducing 

 their fins in celluloid. Besides the routine work required to 

 keep the study collections in condition for ready reference, 

 thirty study skeletons of various types of fishes have been pre- 

 pared by Mr. Kessler, and arranged for reference. Such 

 skeletons are constantly being used in the identification of 

 material referred to the department, and are of service in the 

 Columbia University course which deals with fishes. It is 

 hoped at an early date to increase the present collection of fish 

 skeletons to two or three times its size, and that space will be 



* Under the Department of Ichthyology and Herpetology (see also pages 188 

 to 190). 



