Walter K. Fisher
Area: invertebrates
Years: 1902-1944
Walter K. Fisher's interest in biology was inspired by his father, AK Fisher, a noted vertebrate zoologist and ornithologist, who served as one of the founders of the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey. Working as an assistant for the Bureau, WK Fisher, himself, gained the skills of a well-trained naturalist.
Fisher's chosen field of expertise was invertebrate zoology, a subject requiring a broad knowledge of the anatomy, taxonomy, and natural history of marine invertebrates. In this field of study, his specialty was directed toward the biology of the echinoderms, a phylum that includes both sea urchins and starfish.
As for his college education, Walter K. Fisher entered Stanford University in 1897, completing a Bachelor of Science (1901), a Master of Science (1903) and a Doctorate of Philosophy (1906). He joined the Stanford faculty in 1902 as Assistant Instructor in zoology, becoming a Full Instructor in 1907, Assistant Professor in 1909, and Professor of Biology in 1925.
In the winter of 1918, Stanford University President Ray Lyman Wilbur appointed WK Fisher as the first Director and first full-time resident faculty of Hopkins Marine Station. President Wilbur's selection of Walter K. Fisher as Director ensured that a portion of the teaching and research undertaken at the seaside laboratory would be directed toward the taxonomy and systematics of the marine invertebrates.
Prior to moving the facility to China Point, one of the courses offered during the final summer session at the Hopkins Seaside Laboratory (1917) was a class titled “Marine Invertebrates.” With Walter K. Fisher as the instructor, the description for this course read: “A study of the groups of invertebrate animals found in the sea with especial reference to relationships and ecology.” This course description marked the first time the term “ecology” was introduced into the lexicon to describe the instructional efforts associated with Stanford's seaside laboratory.
Following the relocation of the Stanford facility to China Point, during the summer quarter of 1919, the title of WK Fisher class became “The Classification and Ecology of Marine Invertebrates,” with a course description that read “The object of this course is to give the student the widest possible acquaintance with the animals which live along shore and in the plankton of Monterey Bay, their classification, associations, distribution and habit.”
During the next twenty years of his tenure, WK Fisher repeated his class The Classification and Ecology of Marine Invertebrates, or some derivation thereof, combining his course work with classes offered by other instructors, including Tage Skogsberg, George MacGinitie, and Rolf Bolin.
Publications:
PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM, Vol. 99 No. 3248, 1949, ADDITIONS TO THE ECHIUROID FAUNA OF THE NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN, WALTER KENRICK FISHER
ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, Ser. ll,vol.xiv. p. 852, .December 1947. A Review of the Bonelliidae (Echiuroidea), Walter K. Fisher
PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. Vol 97 No. 3218, 1947, NEW GENERA AND SPECIES OF ECHIUROID AND SIPUNCULOID WORMS, WALTER KENRICK FISHER
JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. Vol. 35 No. 9, September 15, 1945, ZOOLOGY.-Unusual abnormalities in sea-stars. W. K. Fisher
PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM, Vol. 90 No. 3114, 1941, A NEW GENUS OF SEA STARS (PLAZASTER) FROM JAPAN, WITH A NOTE ON THE GENUS PARASTERINA, Walter K. Fisher
PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM, Vol. 86 No. 3059, 1939, A NEW SEA STAR OF THE GENUS PORANIOPSIS FROM JAPAN, Walter K. Fisher
PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM, Vol. 84 No. 3024, 1938, HYDROCORALS OF THE NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN, Walter Kenrick Fisher
Bulletin of the Raffles Museum, Singapore, Straits Settlements, No. 9, December 1934, Note on a Starfish from Christmas Island, Indian Ocean, W. K. Fisher
PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM, Vol. 78 No. 2859, 1931, REPORT ON THE SOUTH AMERICAN SEA STARS COLLECTED BY WALDO L. SCHMITT. W. K. Fisher
ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, Ser 10, vol viii. p 391, October 1931. California Hydrocorals, W. K. Fisher
PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM, Vol. 69 No. 2632, 1926, A NEW SEA STAR OF THE GENUS EVASTERIAS. W. K. Fisher
Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin No. 27, Tanager Expedition Publication No. I . I925. SEA STARS OF TROPICAL CENTRAL PACIFIC. W. K. Fisher
BIOLOGICAL BULLETIN, Vol. XLVIII., No. 3, March, I925. ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION IN THE STARFISH, SCLERASTERIAS. W. K. Fisher
BULLETIN De L'INSTITUT OCEANOGRAPHIQUE, MONACO, No. 444. July 31, 1924, The Genus Sclerasterias Perrier, W. K. Fisher
PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM, Vol. 64 No. 1493, 1924, A REMARKABLE NEW SEA STAR FROM JAPAN, W. K. Fisher
THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY Vol. XVII, No. 4, October 1923. OCEAN LIFE, W. K. Fisher
ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, Ser. 9, vol. xii. August 1923. A Preliminary Synopsis of the Asteriidae, a Family of Sea-Stars, W. K. Fisher
ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, Ser. 9, vol. ii. July 1918. Notes on Asteroidea - II. W. K. Fisher
PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM, Vol. 52 No. 2180, March 7, 1917, TROPHODISCUS, A NEW SEA STAR FROM KAMCHATKA, Walter K. Fisher
PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM, Vol. 46 No. 2022, September 30, 1913, NEW STARFISHES FROM THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, CELEBES, AND THE MOLUCCAS, (SClENTIFIC RESULTS OF THE PHILIPPINE CRUISE OF THE FISHERIES STEAMER "ALBATROSS," 1907-1910.-No. 30.], Walter K. Fisher
Sonderabdruck aus dem >Zoologischen Anzeiger< Bd. XLII, Nr. 5 vom 4. Juli 1913. A new species of Echinaster, with a note on the name Othilia, Walter K. Fisher
PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM, Vol. 43 No. 1944, February 5, 1913, FOUR NEW GENERA AND FIFTY-EIGHT NEW SPECIES OF STARFISHES FROM THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, CELEBES, AND THE MOLUCCAS, (SClENTIFIC RESULTS OF THE PHILIPPINE CRUISE OF THE FISHERIES STEAMER "ALBATROSS," 1907-1910.-No.23.], Walter K. Fisher
PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM, Vol. 40 No. 1827, May 17, 1911, NEW GENERA OF STARFISHES FROM THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, (SClENTIFIC RESULTS OF THE PHILIPPINE CRUISE OF THE FISHERIES STEAMER "ALBATROSS," 1907-1910.-No. 10.], Walter K. Fisher
Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, Vol LIV. No. 4. March 1911 THE GENUS BLAKIASTER PERRIER. Walter K. Fisher
ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, Ser. 8, vol. vii. January 1911. Two new Genera of Starfishes. Walter K. Fisher
Sonderabdruck aus dem >Zoologischen Anzeiger< Bd. XXXV, Nr. 18 vom 29. Marz 1910. New Starfishes from the North Pacific - II. Spinulosa. Walter K. Fisher
Sonderabdruck aus dem >Zoologischen Anzeiger< Bd. XXXV, Nr. 18 vom 29. Marz 1910. New Starfishes from the North Pacific - I. Phanerozonia. Walter K. Fisher
ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, Ser. 8, vol. v. February 1910. New Pterasteridae from the North Pacific. Walter K. Fisher
The American Naturalist, Vo. XLIII, February 1909. HOLOTHURIANS, Walter K. Fisher
Sonderabdruck aus dem >Zoologischen Anzeiger< Bd. XXXIII, Nr. 11 vom 18. August 1908. Some Necessary Changes in the Generic Names of Starfishes. Walter K. Fisher
Sonderabdruck aus dem >Zoologischen Anzeiger< Bd. XXXII, Nr. 1 vom 23. Juli 1907. Note on Eremicaster, a Genus of Starfishes. Walter K. Fisher
Holothurian names, Fisher, WK. SCIENCE Volume: 26 Pages: 379-380 Published: JUL-DEC 1907
Sonderabdruck aus dem >Zoologischen Anzeiger< Bd. XXX, Nr. 10 vom 19. Juni 1906. Two New Starfishes from Monterey Bay, California. Walter K. Fisher
ANNALS AND MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, Ser. 7, vol. xvii. June 1906. On the Generic Name Stolasterias, Sladen. Walter K. Fisher
Sonderabdruck aus dem >Zoologischen Anzeiger< Bd. XXIX, Nr. 18 vom 12. Dezember 1905. A New Psolus from Monterety Bay, California. Walter K. Fisher
Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau of Fisheries, 1905, NEW STARFISHES FROM DEEP WATER OFF CALIFORNIA AND ALASKA, Walter K. Fisher
Smithsonian Institution, No. 1322 1903. A NEW PROCELSTERNA FROM THE LEEWARD ISLANDS, HAWAIIAN GROUP, Walter K. Fisher