“Poissons de Concarneau”, an unpublished manuscript on ichthyological observations in southern Brittany, France, in 1878-1886 by Charles Robin, Georges Pouchet, Laurent Chabry, Alfred Giard and Jules Bonnier

Iglésias S.P.

Date de parution: décembre 2019
Volume: 43
Number: 4
Pagination: 297-309
doi: https://doi.org/10.26028/cybium/2019-434-001
Notes:

Samuel Iglésias, samuel.iglesias@mnhn.fr

How to cite: Iglésias, S. P. (2019). “Poissons de Concarneau”, an unpublished manuscript on ichthyological observations in southern Brittany, France, in 1878-1886 by Charles Robin, Georges Pouchet, Laurent Chabry, Alfred Giard and Jules Bonnier. Cybium, 43(4): 297-309. https://doi.org/10.26028/CYBIUM/2019-434-001

Résumé

A group of French biologists interested in marine organisms (Charles Robin, Georges Pouchet, Laurent Chabry, Alfred Giard and Jules Bonnier), took from 1878 to 1890 regular trips to the Laboratoire maritime de Concarneau formerly the Vivier-Laboratoire founded by Victor Coste in 1859 on the south coast of Finistère. Their visits were registered as well as their observations of marine organisms of the surroundings in a manuscript register, still kept at the Marine Station of Concarneau. The list of “Fishes of Concarneau” refers to 90 marine species seen in the region of Concarneau and Glénan Islands from 1878 to 1886. The list is essentially qualitative but individual reports and some annotations allow to assess the relative abundance of certain species. The data of presence, absence or frequency are valuable to document the long-term monitoring promoted by Marine Historical Ecology in a context of overexploitation of resources and environmental modifications. Among the large proportion of elasmobranches mentioned by the authors, Pristis pristis is a surprising record as it is historically unknown in the area. The records of Echinorhinus brucus, Oxynotus centrina and Squatina squatina are important historical testimonies as they have disappeared from contemporary observations. Moreover the records of some species that may represent misidentification or mixing of species is discussed.

Mots-clés: 19th century - Bay of Biscay - History - Ichthyologist - Inventory - Marine fishes
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