The Philippine expedition was a two and a half year scientific expedition of the to the

Philippine Islands The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It was the longest voyage of that vessel and, after the

United States Exploring Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...

, was the second longest maritime research expedition undertaken by the United States. It spanned from 1907 to 1910, and was directed by

Hugh McCormick Smith Hugh McCormick Smith, also H. M. Smith (November 21, 1865 – September 28, 1941) was an American ichthyologist and administrator in the United States Bureau of Fisheries. Biography Smith was born in Washington, D.C. In 1888, he received a Docto ...

, an

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...

and then Deputy Commissioner of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries. The expedition collected approximately 100,000 fish specimens, although the exact number is not known.

References

Pacific expeditions History of science and technology in the United States {{Philippines-hist-stub