- Born:
- May 4, 1922, New York, New York, U.S.
- Died:
- February 25, 2015, Sarasota, Florida (aged 92)
- Founder:
- Mote Marine Laboratory
- Subjects Of Study:
- fish
Eugenie Clark
-
Who was Eugenie Clark?
Eugenie Clark (1922–2015) was an American ichthyologist celebrated for her research on poisonous fishes and shark behavior, as well as her passion for marine conservation.
Inspired by William Beebe's underwater research, she studied zoology and later became a research assistant at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Clark's work included studying the sea life of the Philippines and conducting research on the Red Sea as a Fulbright scholar.
In 1955, she helped establish the Cape Haze Marine Laboratory (later renamed the Mote Marine Laboratory). Clark's research challenged assumptions about sharks' intelligence, leading her to advocate for their conservation. She also discovered a substance secreted by the Red Sea Moses sole that repels sharks.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What is an ichthyologist?
An ichthyologist is a zoologist who studies fishes, including their taxonomy, anatomy, behavior, ecology, and physiology. Because fish are an important food source, economic ichthyology is a significant part of the field. Ichthyologists develop classifications of fish and form hypotheses about their evolution, often emphasizing the comparative study of the skeleton because bones are readily available in both living and fossil fishes.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
Why is Eugenie Clark sometimes called the 'Shark Lady'?
Eugenie Clark is often called the "Shark Lady" because of her extensive research on shark behavior and her advocacy for shark conservation. Early in her career, Clark was asked to capture sharks for cancer research, which led to establishing a live shark pen at the Cape Haze Marine Laboratory. Her work involved training lemon sharks and other species, challenging the common belief that sharks were unintelligent. Clark's direct encounters with sharks during her dives inspired her to dispel public fear and promote their conservation, earning her the moniker "Shark Lady".
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What were some important discoveries made by Eugenie Clark?
Eugenie Clark was an American ichthyologist who made significant contributions to marine biology. Her research on poisonous fishes in tropical seas and shark behavior challenged existing assumptions. Clark discovered that the Red Sea Moses sole secretes a shark-repellent substance.
She also explored caves in Mexico where sharks lay motionless, hypothesizing that freshwater seeps helped them shed parasites. In 1995, her team discovered that whale sharks give birth to live young. Additionally, Clark conducted extensive studies on colonial garden eels in the Red Sea and various other fish species.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How did Eugenie Clark help change people's views about sharks?
Eugenie Clark, an American ichthyologist, significantly changed public perception of sharks through her research and advocacy. Over time, sharks had developed a bad reputation, particularly after the 1916 shark attacks in New Jersey that resulted in multiple fatalities. Clark's work challenged long-held assumptions that sharks were unintelligent, demonstrating their capacity to be trained.
Through frequent dives and studies of shark behavior, Clark became an advocate for shark conservation, aiming to dispel public fear and negative stereotypes surrounding these animals.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How did Eugenie Clark inspire future generations of scientists, especially women in marine biology?
Eugenie Clark inspired future generations of scientists, particularly women in marine biology, through her pioneering research and advocacy for marine conservation. Her early fascination with fish, fueled by visits to the New York Aquarium and the writings of William Beebe, led her to a career as an ichthyologist, overcoming obstacles related to her Japanese heritage.
Clark's work challenged assumptions about sharks' intelligence and behavior, training lemon sharks and advocating for their conservation. As a professor at the University of Maryland, she explored the Red Sea, studied poisonous fish, and made discoveries about shark behavior and reproduction. Through her research, writings, and advocacy, Clark inspired countless individuals to pursue careers in marine biology and conservation, leaving a lasting legacy as a champion for the oceans and their inhabitants.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Eugenie Clark (born May 4, 1922, New York, New York, U.S.—died February 25, 2015, Sarasota, Florida) was an American ichthyologist noted for her research on poisonous fishes of the tropical seas and on the behaviour of sharks. She was also an avid marine conservationist.
Clark was born to an American father and a Japanese mother. Her father died when she was young, and she was supported by her mother and grandparents. On days when she accompanied her mother to work in Manhattan, Clark whiled away the hours at the New York Aquarium (then in Battery Park) and soon determined to study fish. She was further inspired by the writings of William Beebe, a pioneer in underwater research. She later studied zoology at Hunter College (B.A., 1942) and New York University (M.A., 1946), supporting herself at the latter school by working as a chemist for a plastics company.
Clark was a research assistant at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, from 1946 to 1947. There she learned to dive with gear that predated the self-contained underwater breathing device developed by the U.S. military and later known as the scuba. (She would later become proficient with scuba gear as well.) In 1947 she was asked by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to study the sea life of the Philippines but was detained by the FBI because of concerns about her Japanese heritage and was ultimately unable to go. She worked at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in 1948. Clark was a member of the staff of the American Museum of Natural History, New York City, from 1948 to 1966. In 1949 the U.S. Office of Naval Research sent her to the islands of the South Seas to collect and identify species of poisonous fish; there she learned to free dive. As a Fulbright scholar (1951), she conducted research on the Red Sea from the Al-Ghardaqah Marine Biological Station in Egypt. At the time, the waters were virtually unexplored. Her research on the live-bearing reproduction of platy and swordtail fish earned her a doctorate from New York University in 1950. She was reported as being the first person in the United States to carry out successful artificial insemination experiments on fish.
In 1955—with funding from William H. Vanderbilt, grandson of shipping and railroad magnet Cornelius Vanderbilt—Clark helped found the Cape Haze Marine Laboratory in Placida, Florida; it moved to Siesta Key in 1960 and to Sarasota in 1978. Clark and her growing team of researchers collected and studied hundreds of fish species off the Florida coast. She served as its executive director until 1967; that year it was renamed the Mote Marine Laboratory. The year the lab was built, Clark was asked by a cancer researcher to capture some sharks so he could study their livers; that led to the creation of a pen for live sharks at the site. In 1958 Clark undertook research on shark behaviour, eventually training lemon sharks (and other species) to push a target in order to receive food. That research contradicted long-held assumptions that sharks lacked intelligence. Thereafter Clark, who also encountered sharks in the wild on her frequent dives, became an advocate for their conservation and attempted to dispel the public fear of the animals. She joined the faculty of the University of Maryland in 1968, becoming full professor in 1973 and emeritus in 1992. Clark made frequent expeditions into the field, particularly the Red Sea. She retired from teaching in 1999.
Clark made numerous studies of the fish in the order Tetraodontiformes (Plectognathi), which includes triggerfish, pufferfish, and filefish. She discovered that the Red Sea Moses sole (Pardachirus marmoratus), a type of flatfish, secretes a substance that is repulsive to sharks (1972). In 1973 she visited caves in Mexico where sharks had been reported to lie motionless and seemingly unreactive. She hypothesized that freshwater seeps in the caves helped the fish to shed parasites, an assertion borne out by the presence of parasite-eating remoras in the caves. In 1995 her team discovered that whale sharks give birth to live young. Clark also made numerous studies of the colonial garden eels of the Red Sea and of other fish species.
Clark was a frequent contributor to National Geographic magazine. She wrote the memoirs Lady with a Spear (1953) and The Lady and the Sharks (1969) and cowrote the children’s book The Desert Beneath the Sea (1991), about her investigations of the sandy floors of the Red Sea.