American Museum of Natural History Research Library
author: American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History. Hall of Fishes of the World.; Ichthyology Hall; Hall of Fishes; Fish Hall; Hall of Fishes of the World; Fishes; Hall of Living Fishes
birth: 1929
death: 1962
Permanent exhibition. Opened December 5, 1928 and closed May 1962. Located on Floor 1, Section 9. The Hall of Fishes of the World at the American Museum of Natural History served as the Museum's ichthyology hall and was constructed at the same time as the Hall of Ocean Life. Specimens for the hall were collected by the Spalding Expedition (1926), which included Keith Spalding, the Arcturus Expedition, which included Herbert Ruckes, and the Lerner Cape Breton Expedition (1936), which included Michael Lerner, J.T. Nichols, Francesca R. La Monte, H.C. Raven, George Conrad Miles, Ludwig Ferraglio, Anthony Keasbey, and William Lerner (1, 1925, p. 22; 1, 1926, p. 9; 2. The hall was arranged by curators Bashford Dean and William K. Gregory and Museum director Frederic A. Lucas (1, 1916, p. 21; 1, 1925, p. 29). Zane Grey and Michael Lerner obtained specimens of big game fish, and other individuals who caught or presented specimens are extensively documented in the annual reports (1, 1923-1936). Preparators for the hall included Walter Escherich, Christopher Marguglio, Ludwig Ferraglio, Herman Mueller, George Childs, George Miles Conrad, and Joseph Guerry (1, 1926, p. 9; 1, 1929, p. 64; 1, 1936, p. 11).
Plans for the hall were announced in the Annual Report in 1911 concurrently with the Hall of Ocean Life. The two new halls and the Darwin Hall were rendered with the same color scheme suggestive of sea tones to emphasize the natural sequence of the three halls (1, 1925, p. 23). The hall was still under development when it opened in 1928 (1, 1928, p. 47).
Exhibits in the hall included the Sea Rovers Group, which depicted a loggerhead turtle hunted by several species of shark: great white shark or man-eater, spot-fin ground shark or shovelnose, southern ground shark, tiger shark, hammer-head shark, and sand shark; exhibits of game fish, which included sailfish, bluefin tuna, blue marlin, swordfish, and spearfish; a model of a giant manta, a whale shark specimen (1, 1939, p. 72-74); the Mako Group (1, 1953, p. 94); the Systematic and Biological exhibits (1, 1928, p. 41-42); the life-history of swordfish from egg to adult (1, 1953, p. 96); a model of a coelcanth fish and an exhibit on shrimp, lobster, and crabs (1, 1962, p. 42). The hall closed in May 1962 to make room for the Hall of the Biology of Invertebrates (1, 1961/62, p. 55).