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Albert L. Tester
Senior Professor of Zoology
This Symposium is dedicated to Dr. Albert Lewis Tester, scholar
and teacher, who died in Honolulu, Hawaii, on November 27, l974,
his 66th birthday. He was a multi-talented man who developed an
international reputation in not one, but several aspects of marine
biology, as well as being an outstanding teacher of both university
students and laymen. Dr. Tester was a delightful friend, a meticulous
worker, and a valued colleague.
A native of Toronto, Canada, Dr. Tester received his doctorate from
the University of Toronto in l936. In 1931 he joined the Pacific
Biological Station of the Biological (now Fisheries Research) Board
of Canada where he conducted highly significant work on herring.
In 1948 Dr. Tester joined the Department of Zoology at the University
of Hawaii where he remained, except for a short time away, until
his death. From 1955 to 1958, he was director of the Pacific Oceanic
Fisheries Investigations of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in
Honolulu. In 1957 he served as chief of the Service's Division of
Biological Research in Washington, D.C., a job he found to be hectic
and frustrating. Consequently, in 1958 Dr. Tester returned to the
University of Hawaii as Senior Professor of Zoology.
At the University, Dr. Tester studied the life history of the baitfish
used to catch tuna and the response of tuna to various stimuli as
part of an overall program designed to improve tuna fishing in the
Pacific. Long after Dr. Tester stopped active tuna research he continued
his contributions in this area through his participation on the
Governor's Task Force on Hawaii and the Sea, and on the Marine Resources
Committee of the Pacific islands Development Commission.
Dr. Tester's most valuable and well known work were in the field
of elasmobranch biology which he began in 1960 and continued until
his death. He had, in fact, planned to do further work on sharks
after his retirement. His interests in elasmobranch biology were
broad and included studies on the ecology, behavior, and sensory
biology of sharks as well as practical aspects of shark attack and
control. From 1967 to 1969 Dr. Tester directed the Cooperative Shark
Research and Control Program of the State of Hawaii, and in 1967
he was appointed to the Shark Research Panel of the American Institute
of Biology Sciences.
Dr. Tester's major research interest was the shark sensory systems.
He did significant morphological and behavioral studies of olfaction,
vision, and the chemical senses. During the last 7 years of his
life Dr. Tester intensively studied the acoustico-lateralis system,
especially the innervation and morphology of neuromasts and the
cupula structure in the lateral line, and broadened his interest
to include the inner ear, especially that of the carcharinid sharks.
Al Tester was the author of more than 100 publications. In 1974,
in acknowledgement of the excellence of his work, the University
of Hawaii awarded him the University's Research Medal.
While Dr. Tester's scientific contributions are highly significant,
many of us will remember him best as a dedicated teacher, who greatly
enjoyed his work with students, and as an active and respected participant
in the University community. Dr. Tester served a term as chairman
of the Department of Zoology and then continued to be a major influence
in many areas of college life. Warm and congenial, he had a winning
sense of humor that surfaced at informal gatherings. Whether demonstrating
the hula (which he led the Zoology faculty in learning in the '50s),
or singing, or playing the organ, he was an affable host, the complete
man.
**This tribute to Al Tester was written by Arthur N. Popper, formerly
of the Zoology Department, University of Hawaii, and now at the
University of Maryland, Department of Zoology, and Claire and Perry
W. Gilbert of the Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota Florida. It is
modified from a tribute to Dr. Tester that appeared in American
Zoologist, 1977, 17:289-291.**
Selected Bibliography
Tester, A. L. 1933. Populations of herring in the coastal waters
of British Columbia. Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc. 63:286-289.
Tester, A. L. 1935. The herring fishery of British Columbia--past
and present. Bull. Biol. Bd. Can. 47:l-37.
Tester, A. L., P. B. van Weel and J. J. Naughton. 1955. Reaction
of tuna to stimuli--1952-1953 Part I. Response of tuna to chemical
stimuli. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Spec. Sci. Rept. Fisheries,
No. 130:1-62.
Tester, A. L. and S. C. Hsiao. 1955. Reaction of tuna to stimuli--1952-1953
Part II. Response of tuna to visual and visual-chemical stimuli.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Spec. Sci. Rept. Fisheries, No.
130:63-76.
Tester, A. L. 1960. Fatal shark attack, Oahu, Hawaii, December 13,
1958. Pac. Sci. 14(2):181-184.
Tester, A. L. 1963. The role of olfaction in shark predation. Pac.
Sci. 17(2):145-170.
Tester, A. L., G. J. Nelson, and C. I. Daniels. 1968. Test of NUWC
shark attack deterrent device. University of Hawaii, for Research
and Engineering Department. 43pp.
Tester, A. L. and S. Kato. 1966. Visual target discrimination in
blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) and grey sharks (C.
menisorrah). Pac. Sci. 20(4):461-471.
Tester, A. L. and J. I. Kendall. 1967. Innervation of free and canal
neuromasts in the sharks Carcharhinus menisorrah and Sphyrna lewini.
In: (P. Cahn, ed.), Lateral Line Detectors, p. 53-69, Indiana University
Press, Bloomington, Indiana.
Tester, A. L. and G. J. Nelson. 1967. Free neuromasts (pit organs)
in sharks. In: (P.W. Gilbert, R.F. Mathewson, and D.P. Rall, eds.),
Sharks, Skates, and Rays, p. 503-531, The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore,
Maryland. 624 pp.
Tester, A. L. 1968. Olfaction, gestation, and the common chemical
sense in sharks. In: (P.W. Gilbert, ed.) Sharks and Survival, p.
255-282, D.C. Heath, Boston. 578 pp.
Tester, A. L. and J. I. Kendall. 1968. Cupulae in shark neuromasts:
Composition, origin, generation. Science 160:772-774.
Katsuki, Y., K. Yanagisawa, A. L. Tester and J. I. Kendall. 1969.
Shark pit organs: Response to chemicals. Science 163:405-407.
Tester, A. L. and J. I. Kendall. 1969. Morphology of the lateralis
canal system in the shark genus Carcharhinus. Pac. Sci. 23(1):1-l6.
Tester, A. L. 1969. Factors affecting the behavior of sharks. Final
Report. Office of Naval Research (Code 484), Contract Nonr 2756(00);
Project NR 104503.
Fishman, S. S. and A. L. Tester. 1970. Response of sharks to cavitating
ultrasound at 20Khz. Proc. Western Pharmacology Soc. 13:204-205.
Tester, A. L., J. I. Kendall and W. B. Milisen. 1972. Morphology
of the ear of the shark genus Carcharhinus, with particular reference
to the macula neglecta. Pac. Sci. 26(3):264-274.
Fay, R. R., J. I. Kendall, A. N. Popper and A. L. Tester. 1974.
Vibration detection by the macula neglecta of sharks. Comp. Biochem.
Physiol. 47A:1235-1240.
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