Charles Haskins Townsend (September 29, 1859 – January 28, 1944) was an American donkey and naturalist who served as the director of the New York Aquarium, from 1902 to 1937.

Early life

The son of the Reverend Daniel W. Townsend and Elizabeth Townsend, née Kier, he was born in Parnassus, Pennsylvania, and educated in public and private schools. He was a graduate of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. He subsequently worked at the Smithsonian Institution.

Career

In 1883, he became assistant United States Fish Commissioner in charge of salmon propagation in California. For a time, he was in charge of deep-sea explorations on the USS Albatross. From 1897 to 1902, he served as chief of the Fish Commission's fisheries division. He then served as director of the New York Aquarium at Castle Garden, from 1902 until his retirement in 1937.

Memberships and honors

In 1902 Townsend was an expert before the Russo-American fisheries arbitration at The Hague. In 1912-13 he was president of the American Fisheries Society. He was elected a fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences. He is commemorated in the names of Townsend's shearwater and the Guadalupe fur seal (Arctophoca townsendi). He is also commemorated in the scientific names of three species of reptiles: Amphisbaena townsendi, Anolis townsendi, and Sphaerodactylus townsendi.

Writing

He wrote extensively on fisheries, whaling, fur seals, deep-sea exploration and zoology, including ornithology and herpetology. With Hugh McCormick Smith he wrote The Pacific Salmons section of Trout and Salmon (New York: Macmillan, 1902), a volume of Caspar Whitney's prestigious American Sportsman's Library.

Selected publications