Renovated Fishes Exhibition Reopens June 2 at Harvard Museum of Natural History

June 2, 2012

The historic Fishes Exhibition at the Harvard Museum of Natural History in Cambridge reopens to the public on June 2, 2012 after a major makeover.  Museum-goers may explore the diversity of fishes from gars to groupers and stonefishes to seahorses. The exhibition will redisplay some long-time visitor favorites including the hammerhead and mako sharks, the massive bluefin tuna, and the prickly porcupine fish, and will also add many new specimens borrowed from the ichthyology collections of Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology. Fishes combines abundant real specimens with 3-D models, colorful graphic displays, and an interactive multimedia station profiling the research of faculty, staff, and students in Harvard's Lauder Laboratory.  

The exhibition re-opening lecture entitled "The Grand Diversity of Fishes: Form, Function, and Evolution" will be presented by George V. Lauder, Professor of Biology and Curator of Ichthyology in Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology on Thursday, May 31 at 6:00 pm.

The Grand Diversity of Fishes: Form, Function, and Evolution

Fishes display a remarkable diversity in their behavior, ecology, and physical form. Constituting half of all known vertebrate species, fishes have adapted to almost every habitat on earth—from the deepest ocean trenches to highest mountain streams, and from sub-freezing to near-boiling temperatures. In this talk to celebrate the reopening of the museum’s Fishes gallery, George V. Lauder, Professor of Biology and Curator of Ichthyology in Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology, will discuss these remarkable adaptations and look at some of the cutting-edge fish research that is currently happening at Harvard.

Free and open to the public, in the museum's Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street. Free parking for the lecture is available in the 52 Oxford Street Garage. The lecture will be followed by an exhibition preview and reception in the Fishes gallery for Harvard Museum of Natural History members. (Membership is $35 seniors; $50 adults; $85 household). Preregistration for the reception is required.

The Fishes exhibition is the third gallery renovation in the past year, with two new exhibitions. Mollusks: Shelled Masters of the Marine Realm, opened in February 2012, and New England Forests in the Zofnass Family Gallery, opened May 2011. Renovations to the Bird Balcony of the Great Mammal Hall are in progress.

About the Harvard Museum of Natural History
With a mission to enhance public understanding and appreciation of the natural world and the human place in it, the Harvard Museum of Natural History draws on the University’s collections and research to present a historic and interdisciplinary exploration of science and nature. More than 190,000 visitors annually make it the University’s most-visited museum.

Harvard Museum of Natural History is located at 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge. For general information, please see the website at www.hmnh.harvard.edu, or call 617.495.3045.

Photos available on request:  
Caption: The mako shark will remain a star attraction of the renovated Fishes exhibition at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Photo by Frank Siteman, www.hmnh.harvard.edu.
 

See also: Press Release