Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
Ca. 1818
Primary Source Reference:
Thomas Say, "On the Species of the Linnæan Genus Asterias, Inhabiting the Coast of the United States," Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, vol. 5, part 1 (1825): 141-154 (described on p. 151) / https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/24657187
Additional Source Text:
“I am also indebted to Mr. [Titian] Peale for the opportunity to examine and describe the six following species, all found by himself on the Florida Keys” (p. 148).
Notes:
The 1817 Florida Expedition was the first major privately funded collecting endeavor of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. The Expedition was financed and organized by the newly elected president, William Maclure, and included an Academy founder and Curator, Thomas Say, Vice President George Ord, and recently elected member Titian Ramsay Peale. See Thomas Peter Bennett, "The 1817 Florida Expedition of the Academy of Natural Sciences," Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 152 (Oct. 14, 2002): 1-21.
Thomas Say (1787-1834) was an American naturalist. His definitive studies of insects and shells, numerous contributions to scientific journals, and scientific expeditions to Florida, Georgia, the Rocky Mountains, Mexico, and elsewhere made him internationally known. Say has been called the father of American descriptive entomology and American conchology. He served as librarian for the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, curator at the American Philosophical Society, and professor of natural history at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1821 he was appointed Professor of Zoology at the Peale Museum, but he evidently did not give the planned lectures.
Current Scientific Name
Ophiomyxa flaccida
