Exist Dates
1929 - 1962
Biographical or Historical Note
- abstract
- 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).
Sources
(1) American Museum of Natural History. Annual Reports. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1923-1961/62.
(2) American Museum of Natural History Research Library Digital Special Collections. "Lerner Cape Breton Expedition," accessed
May 19, 2017, http://data.library.amnh.org:8082/orbeon/xeac/id/amnhc_2000348.
(3) American Museum of Natural History. General Guide to [the Exhibition Halls of] the American Museum of Natural History.
New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1928-1962.
Information for the hall appears in the following Museum publications:
American Museum of Natural History Annual Reports for years 1911 (page 20); 1916 (page 21); 1919 (page 25); 1923 (page 40);
1924 (page 104); 1925 (page 18, 22-23, 29, 49); 1926 (page 9, 144); 1927 (page 17, 32, 79); 1928 (page 28, 34, 47, 92); 1929
(page 64); 1930 (page 38); 1931 (page 46); 1934 (page 9); 1935 (page 11); 1936 (page 9, 11, 53); 1937 (page 14, 54, 72); 1940
(page 13); 1941 (page 4, 13, 34); 1942 (page 12); 1957 (page 12); 1961 (page 55)
American Museum of Natural History General Guides for years 1928 (page 41, 42); 1930 (page 41); 1929 (page 41); 1930 (page
42); 1931 (page 29, 30); 1932 (page 29, 30); 1933 (page 29, 30); 1934 (page 30); 1935 (page 30); 1936 (page 9, 30); 1939 (page
16, 71); 1943 (page 16, 71); 1945 (page 16, 71); 1947 (page 16, 71); 1949 (page 16, 71); 1953 (Floor plans, page 93, 96);
1956 (page 102, 106); 1958 (page 102, 106); 1962 (page 12, 42)
Terms
- place
- New York
AMNH: Floor 1, Section 9.
