Shrimps, Lobsters and Crabs: Much Ado About Decapod Crustaceans (Exhibition)

Exist Dates

1959 March 17 - 1959, approximately

Biographical or Historical Note

abstract

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.

Sources

(1) American Museum of Natural History. Press Release. "Seafood and Science Blended in Colorful New Exhibit." March 17, 1959. Departmental Records, DR 101. American Museum of Natural History Library.

(2) American Museum of Natural History. Annual Reports, Departmental. "Annual Report of the Department of Fishes and Aquatic Biology 1958-1959 July 1, 1958 to June 30, 1959)." [1959]. Departmental Records, DR 098. American Museum of Natural History Library.

(3) American Museum of Natural History. Press Release. "'Shrimp, Lobsters, and Crabs: Much Ado About Decapod Crustaceans' Background on Information on Crustacean Research." March 17, 1959. Departmental Records, DR 101. American Museum of Natural History Library.

(4) American Museum of Natural History. Photographic Prints. American Museum of Natural History Special Collections, images: 326434, 326436, 326439, 326440, 326503.

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Related Corporate, Personal, and Family Names

American Museum of Natural History. Department of Invertebrates.
Related department (1)

American Museum of Natural History. Irma and Paul Milstein Family Hall of Ocean Life.
Location of exhibition 1959 March 17 – 1959 (1, p. 1)

Berman Fish Co., Inc.
Provided material for exhibition (1, p. 3).

Bliss, Dorothy E.
Curator of exhibition; Assistant Curator of Invertebrates (1, p. 1)

Canada. Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Provided material for exhibition (1, p. 3).

Imperial Commerce Corporation
Provided material for exhibition (1, p. 3).

King of the Sea Restaurant
Provided material for exhibition (1, p. 3).

Maine. Department of Sea and Shore Fisheries
Provided material for exhibition (1, p. 3).

Marinovich Trawl, Co.
Provided material for exhibition (1, p. 3).

South African Sea Products, Ltd.
Provided material for exhibition (1, p. 3).

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Provided material for exhibition (1, p. 3).

United States National Museum
Provided material for exhibition (1, p. 3).

Virginia Fisheries Laboratory
Provided material for exhibition (1, p. 3).

Wakefield's Deep Sea Trawlers Co.
Provided material for exhibition (1, p. 3).

Related Resources

American Museum of Natural History. Annual Report. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1958-1959: 23, 54.

American Museum of Natural History annual reports, 1902-2001.
"Annual Report of the Department of Fishes and Aquatic Biology 1958-1959 July 1, 1958 to June 30, 1959).

American Museum of Natural History press releases, 1933-1990s.
"Seafood and Science Blended in Colorful New Exhibit." March 17, 1959.; "'Shrimp, Lobsters, and Crabs: Much Ado About Decapod Crustaceans' Background on Information on Crustacean Research." March 17, 1959.

American Museum of Natural History Special Collections photographic drawers
Repository: AMNH Special Collections. [Black and white photo prints of exhibition in preparation and on view]

American Museum of Natural History Special Collections vertical files
Repository: AMNH Special Collections [Under Permanent Halls: Hall of Ocean Life: Press release; news articles; bulletins from the Shrimp Association of America, National Fisheries Institute, Inc.; “Fragile Creatures of the Deep” by Roy W. Miner]

Fragile creatures of the deep / by Roy Waldo Miner.
Date of resource: [1938]; 15 p. : ill. ; 30 cm.; Guide leaflet series of the American Museum of Natural History ; no. 98; QH1 .G8 no.98 1938

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