George Vanderbilt Sumatran Expedition

The George Vanderbilt Sumatran Expedition (1936–1939) was a scientific expedition organized and financed by George Washington Vanderbilt III.

In February and March 1936 Vanderbilt, accompanied by his wife Lucille Vanderbilt née Parsons, used his yacht to visit Sumatra and conduct a preliminary expedition, on which he collected a few specimens of birds.

In 1937 Vanderbilt chartered the schooner Cressida to cruise the South Pacific on a scientific expedition to collect fish specimens under the auspices of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. On the cruise Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt were accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Samuel B. Jones III as guests. William B. Gray was in charge of fishing activities. With Ronald W. Smith as the expedition's zoologist, the expedition collected about 10,000 individual specimens, excluding a great many larval and immature forms. The 10,000 fish specimens represented 434 (alleged) species and 210 (alleged) genera. The expedition discovered 22 allegedly new species with 5 allegedly new genera (although revisions have been made because of molecular phylogenetics). For example, Fowler's Machaerenchelys vanderbilti has been rejected in favor of Leiuranus semicintus,Acanthapogon vanderbilti has been rejected in favor of Gymnapogon vanderbilti, and Ophioblennius vanderbilti has been rejected in favor of Cirripectes vanderbilti.

The Cressida left New York City on January 13th and reached Palm Beach, Florida on January 22nd. In early February 1937 the expedition collected specimens of birds from Malpelo Island and several of the avian species collected had never before been sampled on that particular island. From February 14th to March 3rd the Cressida was in the Galapagos Islands; there the expedition collected 9 lizards of 2 species with 1 genus and 2 snakes of 2 species with 1 genus. From April 7th to April 23rd the Cressida was in the Society Islands; in that vicinity the expedition collected about 2400 fish specimens. From May 5th to May 7th the Cressida was anchored off Christmas Island; near that island the expedition collected about 5,000 fish specimens. From May 24th to May 31 the Cressida was anchored at Honolulu; there the expedition disbanded and, via the Panama Canal, the crew returned the schooner to New York City on July 18th.

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