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.
Fish anatomy and tail, although the divisions are not always externally visible. The body is often fusiform, a streamlined body plan often found in fast-moving fish. They may also be filiform (eel-shaped) or vermiform (worm-shaped). Also, fish are often either compressed (laterally thin) or depressed (dorso-ventrally flat). There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body. The skeleton of the fish is made of either cartilage (cartilaginous fishes) or bone (bony fishes). The main features of the fish, the fins, are bony fin