Frank Edward Clarke's Fabulous Fishes

Frank Edward Clarke’s Fabulous Fishes

In 1890, Frank Edward Clarke (1848-1899) was referred to as a ‘well known ichthyologist’ in Aotearoa New Zealand, with newspapers describing his knowledge of fishes to be ‘perhaps superior to that of any in the Colony’.(1)

However, were it not for the remarkable collection of watercolours in Te Papa’s collection, Clarke’s contribution to documenting the fishes of this country would be almost invisible.

Clarke was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, England in 1848, the fourth child of Dr Edward Clarke, a medical doctor, and Anne Leah Clarke (née Clarkson). When he was just five years old, the family emigrated to Launceston, Tasmania, where his father practiced as a physician for nearly 20 years. An interest in art, natural history and collecting ran in Frank’s blood. His uncle, William Barnard Clarke, was a keen naturalist, and the first curator of Ipswich Museum when it opened in 1847.(2)  He and Frank’s father were also amateur artists. William exhibited several times with the Suffolk Fine Arts Association, and Edward produced architectural and natural history drawings. The journal Edward kept onboard the voyage to Tasmania was full of descriptions, both written and visual. On one occasion he went to great lengths to picture a Portuguese man-of-war, writing ‘I wanted … to give a faithful sketch of it, as I never remember to have seen any drawing made; nothing in fact at all like it in beauty. I succeeded tolerably well, and gave much pleasure to the passengers during the process…’ (3)  It is likely Frank gained his drawing skills from his father, and he followed in his footsteps when he finished high school, travelling back to Cambridge University in England to study law and medicine. However, ill health may have curtailed his ambition – he developed heart disease, possibly following a bout of rheumatic fever – and was advised to pursue an outside job. (4)

Frank consequently trained as a surveyor and returned to the Antipodes in 1870, settling on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island, where he worked for the Provincial Survey Department. In 1873 he married Margaret May Mulvihill, from County Clare, Ireland, in Ross, Westland, with whom he had seven children. In 1876 Clarke was appointed Chief Draughtsman for the Survey Department, but his contributions to the social and intellectual life of the West Coast extended well beyond this role. (5) Indeed, when, in 1894, Clarke received a promotion and relocated to New Plymouth, his departure was much lamented by ‘West Coasters’. During his nearly 25 years on the West Coast, he was involved in many aspects of community life: he was Westland’s Deputy Sheriff (6); Chairman of the Acclimatisation Society; a member of and contributor to the Hokitika Literary Society and Westland Institute (7); and he also supported the local museum (8).  He organised sporting events, including regattas, and founded a canoe club. Alongside his day job as draughtsman, Clarke was a skilled artist and designer, producing illuminated addresses and certificates for colleagues, and creating emblems and seals for council bodies.

Clarke’s key contribution to natural history was in the field of ichthyology. His interest in fishes was evident before he left for Cambridge, with 48 of the 140 watercolours in Te Papa’s collection dating from 1866-1868 and picturing species from Tasmanian waters. A decade later in 1877, Clarke read his first scientific paper before the Hokitika Literary Society. These papers were also shared with the Westland Institute and Wellington Philosophical Society and were forwarded to the New Zealand Institute for publication. His first paper, ‘On two new fishes’, was published in the Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute, also in 1877. He went on to write at least ten more, his final paper being published posthumously in 1900. In ‘On two new fishes’, Clarke described the fortuitous position he inhabited on the exposed West Coast, where the ‘opportunities for collecting the rarities of pelagic life are much more frequent than might be expected’ as heavy seas, strong currents and fierce winds drove unusual species to the shores. (9)  He also described a new species, Aegoeonichthys appelii, the prickly anglerfish, known today as Himantolophus appelii, retaining the epithet given by Clarke that honours the person who provided him with the specimen, Mr Appel.  Te Papa’s Curator Vertebrates, Andrew Stewart notes that Clarke’s observations were meticulous, and his descriptions rich with detail. This was in direct contrast to many contemporary professional ichthyologists who often provided only a paragraph with little useful information. (10)

Clarke produced his own watercolour drawings of fish to document his findings and to illustrate his papers, as well as his talks to specialists and community groups. In the case of the prickly anglerfish, Te Papa’s holdings of Clarke’s work include three watercolours showing the lateral, profile and dorsal views of the species, as well as a pen and ink illustration that serves as the basis for the full page illustration that accompanied his published paper in the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute (TNZI). 

Clarke’s watercolours include information to support his scientific findings, such as measurements and locations. But they also capture the personalities of the fishes of our nearby seas, retaining the vivid and varied colours, shapes and notable features of over 100 different species, from the vibrant oranges and reds of the Redbanded perch Hypoplectrodes semicinctum, known today as Hypoplectrodes huntii, to the fanciful forms of the Flying Fish, Danichthys cribrosus now Hirundichthys rufipinnis. Clarke’s collection also provides an important and invaluable record of the now-extinct species Grayling, Upokororo, Prototroctes oxyrhynchus once an abundant food source for Māori, but one that did not survive the impact of colonisation – the introduction of new species, such as Trout, and the deterioration of the freshwater environment.

While Clarke never presented his work in a fine art context, he did exhibit at the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition in Dunedin, 1890-91. Over 200 of his watercolours were shown in the Fisheries Court, and were described as ‘beautifully coloured, and apart from their great scientific value are excellent from an artistic point of view’. 

It is hard to go past the insights James Hector, first director of the Colonial Museum, now Te Papa, offered as part of his obituary. Hector wrote ‘[Clarke’s] knowledge of fish was minute and accurate, and it would be difficult to exaggerate the beauty and scientific fidelity of his drawings. A special value attached to these drawings inasmuch as some represented rare and others absolutely unique specimens which had come under Mr. Clarke’s observations’. Hector hoped these ‘valuable drawings might be reproduced and offered in book form – that was, if they could be secured for the Museum…as they were in danger of being lost or dispersed’.

It took 20 more years before Clarke’s works were formally accessioned into the collection, when they were purchased by the Dominion Museum, now Te Papa, from his widow, Margaret, for £60 in 1921. They remain a rich collection that speaks to the strong connection between art and natural history at Te Papa to this day.

Rebecca Rice, Curator Historical Art, 30 May 2024

1. ‘Westland News’, Star, 1 March 1889, p. 4. 

2. Dr Edward Clarke, Journal of a Trip to Tasmania in the City of Hobart Steamship, 1854, transcribed from a photocopy of the original by his great-grandsons Keith & Basil Clarke in 2004. 

3. Information from Dr Basil Clarke, Frank Edward Clarke’s grandson. Email communication with his great-granddaughter Vicki Haylock, May 2024.

4. Untitled, Grey River Argus, 28 March 1876, p. 2 

5. ‘Gazette Notices, Grey River Argus, 10 July 1885, p. 2.

6. ‘Hokitika Literary Society’, West Coast Times, 13 December 1880, p. 2. 

7. West Coast Times, 12 January 1881, p, 2 

8. Clarke, F. E. (1877) "On two new fishes", Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, 10, 243–246

9. Email correspondence with Andrew Stewart, Curator Vertebrates, Te Papa, 29 May 2024.

10.‘Exhibition notes’, Evening Star, 1 November 1890, p. 2 Papers Past | Newspapers | Evening Star | 1 November 1889 | EXHIBITION NOTES. (natlib.govt.nz)

An assessment of Clarke's contribution to icthyology reviewed by Carl Struthers, June 2024:

Clarke described 16 species from 1878-1999, 6 species are still valid today, with 9 species being placed synonymy, and one species with uncertain identity.

Valid Species described by F.E. Clarke (as of June 2024)

1. Prickly anglerfish: Himantolophus appelii (Clarke, 1878)
2. Cheeseman’s puffer Lagocephalus cheesemanii (Clarke, 1897)
3. Longfin triplefin Ruanoho decemdigitatus (Clarke, 1879)
4. Giant triplefin Blennodon dorsale (Clarke, 1879)
5. Bigeye scabbardfish Benthodesmus elongatus (Clarke, 1879)
6. Shortjaw galaxias Galaxias postvectis (Clarke, 1899)

Synonyms (not currently valid/recognised, June 2024)

1. Argentina decagon Clarke, 1879. Current status: Synonym of Argentina elongata Hutton 1879.
2. Trachipterus arawatae Clarke, 1881 Current status: Synonym of Trachipterus trachypterus (Gmelin, 1789)
3. Tetrodon gillbanksii  Clarke, 1897. Current status: Synonym of Arothron firmamentum (Temminck & Schlegel 1850)
4. Argyropelecus intermedius  Clarke, 1878. Current status: Synonym of Argyropelecus hemigymnus Cocco 1829.
5. Galaxias kokopu Clarke, 1899. Current status: Synonym of Galaxias argenteus (Gmelin 1789)
6. Girella multilineata Clarke, 1899. Current status: Synonym of Girella tricuspidata (Quoy & Gaimard 1824).
7. Galaxias robinsonii Clarke, 1899. Current status: Synonym of Galaxias brevipinnis Günther 1866.
8. Tripterygium robustum Clarke, 1879. Current status: Synonym of Forsterygion varium (Forster 1801).
9. Acanthoclinus taumaka Clarke, 1879. Current status: Synonym of Acanthoclinus fuscus Jenyns 1841.

Publications (8 publications describing new species, with links)

Clarke, F. E.  1878 (May) [ref. 841] See ref. at BHL 'On two new fishes'. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute v. 10 (art. 30) (for 1877): 243-246, Pl. 6.
Clarke, F. E.  1879 [ref. 18005] See ref. at BHL 'On a new fish found at Hokitika'. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute v. 11 (art. 26) (for 1878): 295-297, Pl. 14.
Clarke, F. E.  1879 (May) [ref. 18006] See ref. at BHL 'On some new fishes'. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute v. 11 (art. 25) (for 1878): 291-295, Pls. 14-15.
Clarke, F. E.  1881 (Apr.) [ref. 18007] See ref. at BHL 'Description of a new species of Trachypterus'. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute v. 13 (art. 21): 195-199.
Clarke, F. E.  1897 (June) [ref. 14630] See ref. at BHL 'On two new globe-fish'. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute v. 29 (art. 16) (for 1896): 243-250, Pls. 14-15.
Clarke, F. E.  1899 (June) [ref. 14712] See ref. at BHL 'On Exocoetus ilma: a new species of flying fish'. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute v. 31 (art. 9) (for 1898): 92-96, Pl. 6.
Clarke, F. E.  1899 (June) [ref. 18008] See ref. at BHL 'Notes on New Zealand Galaxidae, more especially those of the western slopes; with descriptions of new species'. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute v. 31 (1898): 78-91, Pls. 4-5.
Clarke, F. E.  1899 (June) [ref. 14700] See ref. at BHL 'Notes on Parore (the mangrove fish)'. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute v. 31 (art. 10) (for 1898): 96-101, Pl. 7.