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Trevor
Krabbenhoft Thomas A. Munroe, Ph.
D. "The Research Training Program offers a unique opportunity to live the daily life of a scientist; from conducting valid scientific research, to attending professional meetings, to communicating results to the Smithsonian community. This truly was an experience par-excellence." |
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A New Cynoglossid Flatfish (Symphurus: Cynoglossidae: Pleuronectiformes) From Deep Waters of the Philippine Archipelago. This research involved learning about the anatomy of flatfishes, especially tonguefishes. This included learning about how ichthyologists identify specimens, how they find characters, and how they evaluate these characters to determine the identity of fish specimens they are studying. After preliminary study of some tonguefishes, the characters used to identify them, and reviewing the relevant literature, the study of a series of deep-water tonguefish specimens collected during the Albatross expeditions to the Philippine Archipelago in 1909 began. These specimens had been identified as Symphurus woodmasoni in two different published scientific studies. However, after detailed investigation, it became apparent that these specimens had been misidentified. The next step was to re-identify the specimens, comparing them with all previously described tonguefishes with similar morphological features. It was during this process, that it was discovered that these specimens represented an undescribed species of tonguefish. Using morphological features, such as fin-ray counts, vertebral counts, patterns of interdigitation of dorsal pterygiophores and neural spines, and pigmentation features, the new species could be distinguished from all other known species of Symphurus. Completion of the project required writing a formal scientific description of this new species of flatfish. This research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, Award Number DBI 9820303. |