1961-1962 - American Museum of Natural History

projects on which good progress was made included studies of the
sexual behavior of cats, the function of the forebrain in African
mouth-breeding fish, the influence of stress in early life on individual
behavior of animals, and navigational abilities of birds.
Dr. Aronson transferred his investigations of the pearl-fish
from those of the Atlantic to those of the Pacific, in research at
the Hawaii Marine Laboratory. These eel-like fishes, with
sharply pointed tails, have the unusual behavior of living within
invertebrate hosts. In the deep water off Wakiki Beach a species
of pearl-fish was found to be living in the body cavity of large
cushion stars, a form of starfish. In laboratory aquaria, many
features of the fish were studied, especially the unique manner
in which it enters the starfish. The pearl-fish flips its tail into
one of the grooves on the bottom side of the cushion star and
backs through the groove into the mouth. Then, piercing the intestinal
wall, it finally comes to rest in the large, water-filled
body cavity of the starfish. A large pearl-fish of a different
species, which dwells in a species of sea cucumber (which is
shorter than itself), enters through the mouth, pierces the wall
of the digestive tract, and comes to rest coiled up in the smaller
body cavity of its host.
Dr. T. C. Schneirla, in collaboration with Prof. Alfredo Reyes
of Silliman University in the Philippines, studied the Asian
legionary ant, which is found in the Philippines. Like their
American relatives, the army ants, the Asian ants stage massive
emigrations whenever a new brood matures. Thus each nomadic
phase has a predictable duration, which is followed by
a statary phase, also of predictable duration. Both are dependent
upon the developmental stage of the brood. In contrast
to their American counterparts, the Asian ants also stage irregular
predatory raids during the daytime, starting at dawn and
continuing for some 20 hours (a feature, Dr. Schneirla reports,
that keeps investigating scientists on their toes).
Drs. Evelyn Shaw and E. R. Baylor used contact lenses, similar
to those used in the correction of human vision, to study the
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