On a number of occasions some very interesting animal life was obtained, 
from the anchor chain. When the anchor was hoisted at Tagus Cove, a number of 
specimens of sea urchins were found attached to the chain. They belonged to a 
genus new to the Galapagos and, moreover, represented a new species. 
Two and a half days were given over to the reputed "treasure island" 
of the Pacific, Cocos Island. It was indeed a treasure house of sailfish, for 
we got all of sixteen in our brief stay there. The largest was ten feet two 
inches long and weighed upward of 130 pounds. The President captured a record 
rainbow runner, Elagatis bi oinnulatus . a twenty pound specimen of a species not 
heretofore known to have exceeded twelve pounds. He had a most interesting 
the 
experience here, /landing of a ni ne-and-a-hal f foot, one hundred pound sailfish 
in a knotted loop of his line. Its "beak" became entangled in the line while 
he was playing a still larger one that had been hooked a moment earlier. Al- 
though the hooked fish got away, he managed to bring the snared one to gaff. 
Those who have seen the beak of the fish, which the President has saved, with 
the knot in place, believe that this is the first time a good-sized sailfish 
or perhaps any sailfish has been landed in this manner. The top fish for 
weight taken by any member of the President's party was a 230-pound shark that 
he himself hooked while circumnavigating Cocos Island.. It took a good two and 
a half hours to land it* It was a tiger shark, Gale peer do arcticus . This is 
the species that was found so plentiful at Clipperton and taken on other occa- 
sions during the cruise. Off Chatham Bay a party from our convoy, the U.S.S. 
McDOUGAL, harpooned a giant ray. Manta hi rostris . which should be mentioned 
here because it is one of the few specimens for which one is able to record 
the actual weight. It tipped a heavy duty boat-scales at 1,645 pounds, and 
measured 15 feet wide and 9 feet long, exclusive of its 4- foot tail. 
With the aid of a detachment of men and officers from the HOUSTON, 
I secured comprehensive botanical material of an undescribed species of palm. 
