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

Shrimps, Lobsters and Crabs: Much Ado About Decapod Crustaceans (Exhibition)
birth: 1959 March 17
death: 1959, approximately
Exhibition. Opened March 17, 1959 and closed approximately 1959. Located in Section 10, Floor 1 in the foyer of the Hall of Ocean Life at the American Museum of Natural History. Shrimps, Lobsters and Crabs: Much Ado About Decapod Crustaceans covered life cycles, habits, habitats, and the harvesting of shrimp, American lobster, South African rock lobster, blue crab, and king crab by people for food consumption. The curator of the exhibition was Dorothy E. Bliss, Assistant Curator of Invertebrates in the Museum's Department of Fishes and Aquatic Biology, and the exhibition was designed and executed by the Museum's Department of Exhibition.
Summary
Shrimps, Lobsters and Crabs: Much Ado About Decapod Crustaceans covered life cycles, habits, habitats, and harvesting of shrimp, American lobster, South African rock lobster, blue crab, and king crab by people for food consumption. The curator of the exhibition was Dorothy E. Bliss, Assistant Curator of Invertebrates in the Museum's Department of Fishes and Aquatic Biology, and the exhibition was designed and executed by the Museum's Department of Exhibition. Dr. Bliss began research for the exhibition at Harvard University under grants from the National Institutes of Health (U.S. Public Health Service) and the American Cancer Society and continued at the Museum and Albert Einstein College of Medicine under a grant from the National Science Foundation.
Some of the specimens and other materials were provided by Berman Fish Co., Inc., NY; Caleb Haley & Co., Inc., NY; Canadian Department of Fisheries Division of Marine Invertebrates; US National Museum; Imperial Commerce Corporation; King of the Sea Restaurant (both of NY); Marinovich Trawl Co., Biloxi, MS; National Fisheries Institute; State of Maine Department of Sea and Shore Fisheries; South African Sea Products Ltd; US Fish and Wildlife Service; Virginia Fisheries Laboratory; and Wakefield's Deep Sea Trawlers, Inc., Seattle, WA (1, p. 1-3).
In connection for the preparation of the exhibition, Dr. Bliss wrote an 80-page piece used by the Department of Exhibition in designing the exhibition. The Museum intended to prepare an abridged version of the paper for publication as a "Man and Nature" guide to the exhibition (2, p. 3).
Highlights (1, p. 1-2; 3, p.2):
*Entrance mural titled "What is a decapod crustacean?" featuring a picture of a big red American lobster
*Miniature dioramas of surface-to-bottom views equipment used in fishing industries
*Photographic murals of fishing industries
*Photographs showing six stages in the molting of a land crab taken in Dr. Bliss' laboratory
Sections in the exhibition included (1, p. 2-3; 4):
*Fishing For American Lobsters
*Growth, Molting and Survival: A Story of Crustacean Research
*Shrimps
*Lobsters
*Crabs
*Shrimps, Lobsters and Crabs: Distribution and Fisheries
This is a condensed summary of the exhibition. For additional information, see Sources and/or Related Resources.