John Nathan Cobb the preeminent fishery scientist of the Pacific Northwest for nearly 40 years. Thompson had offices in the College of Fisheries where, since 1925, he was Director of the International Fisheries Commission (now International Pacific Halibut Commission) charged with the management of, and research on, the Pacific halibut, "Hippoglossus stenolepis", fishery. A Ph.D. from Stanford University, Thompson was appointed Research Professor and Director of the new department on a part-time basis, as he remained Director of the International Fisheries Commission. He remained Director of the School until 1947 when he resigned to establish and head the UW's new Fisheries Research Institute.
Paralichthys adspersus 1842 as "Hippoglossus kingii", which would have placed it in the left-eye flounder family. However, the description of "H. kingii" has been determined to lack sufficient information to absolutely determine which species it describes and is thus considered ambiguous and therefore is not valid. Paralichthys adspersus Paralichthys adspersus, the fine flounder, is a species of large-tooth flounder native to the eastern Pacific Ocean, along the continental shelf from the coast of Ecuador in the north to the coast of Peru in the south. It is a medium-sized flatfish, growing up to 70 cm in length, with females typically being larger