Invertebrate researchers from around the world visit the Smithsonian Institution to have access to the expansive collections of our Department. These collections can reveal some true invertebrate gems, but they aren’t exactly the most eye-catching or revealing…..
Most crustacean specimen lots look like this:
… stored in jars, preserved in ethyl alcohol, devoid of color, and often with missing limbs or crushed body parts. Although preserved, these specimens reveal no information about their natural habitat or coloration/color patterns unless, of course, the collector made note of this information on field notes and jar labels).
A number of ground-breaking studies in carcinology (the study of crustaceans) have resulted from working with the collections even without detailed information that can only be noted while collecting in the field. Yet, one must not forget the importance of field work: seeing the animal in its natural environment, observing its behavior, feeding, movement, and documenting the natural color that is completely lost after years in preservation. Species within the same genus can often resemble each other in shape and size, but coloration and habitat can set them apart.
Today’s collecting trips differ greatly from ones conducted just 50-60 years ago when there were no underwater cameras, no submersibles, no cell phones with GPS…. just nets, traps, gloves, paper, colored pencils and lots of patience. OK, field work is still an exhaustive and down-and-dirty job… difference now is that we can post collection bloopers on YouTube, and transmit comments and images almost instantaneously!
Without modern collecting gear, specimen documentation in the past relied on detailed written descriptions and meticulously hand-drawn colored sketches. Yes, some talent was required here. Now, not all carcinologists were so talented; some often brought along collecting colleagues that were artistically inclined, or employees specialized in the task of illustrating specimens in the field. Such was the case of Dr. Frederick “Ted” M. Bayer whose first task as an SI employee was to join a collecting team during an expedition to survey the marine fauna of Bikini Atoll 1 year after atomic bomb testing (1947 Scientific Resurvey of Bikini). Dr. Bayer, an octocoral researcher, was an outstanding bio-illustrator, but a rather modest man who would not admit to having such a skill (that’s another future No Bones blog entry!).
Dr. Bayer was instructed to collect reef corals and document the small commensal crabs associated with them: species of Trapezia. With his ‘modest skills’ he was able to create detailed water color sketches in life of the numerous color patterns of the specimens he collected. As these Trapezia species are quite similar in shape, Dr. Bayer prepared paper templates which he then filled in with water colors to record in the field live color patterns and other fine morphological or habitat observations. These field notes are now part of the Illustration Archives (paper and digital) of the Department, and have become extremely useful for modern revisionary taxonomic studies of these spectacular and ecologically important reef crabs.
Other images of Dr. Bayer’s Bikini Atoll sketches have been showcased on the Smithsonian Institution Ocean Portal on-line exhibit: Celebrating 100 Years -- The Bikini Atoll Survey "Operation Crossroads," 1946-47.
These sketches of Trapezia crabs were later successfully identified by Dr. Peter Castro (Professor emeritus at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, specialist in the taxonomy and ecology of brachyuran crabs) highly due to the attention to detail in color and color patterns, all illustrated by an octocoral researcher with “modest” water color skills!
by Rose Gulledge [edited by Maria Robles Gonzalez]
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