The twelfth essay in the “Creators” series is dedicated to Pavel Galtsov, an outstanding marine biologist who changed the entire American oyster industry and became the founder of mollusc biology. He was born in Moscow. He worked in the United States for most of his life. Together with RASA (Russian-American Science Association), T-invariant continues publishing a series of biographical essays “Creators” about people from the Russian Empire who made a significant contribution to world science and technology, about those to whom we owe our new reality.
In the 19th century, America experienced an “oyster boom.” The abundance of these nutritious mollusks on the East Coast of the United States made oysters a popular dish even among the poor. At first, fishermen collected the delicacy by hand and sold it only in coastal cities, because the catch quickly spoiled. But at the beginning of the twentieth century, an entire oyster industry emerged: industrial fishing, rail transport inland, oyster salons, special culinary practices. Oysters were fried, baked, steamed, but practically not studied from a scientific point of view. Until another immigrant ship brought marine biologist Pavel Semyonovich Galtsov to New York. It was he who was to create a solid scientific base for the US oyster industry.
Saving the lakes from summer residents
A lot of scientific equipment fit into two boats: pumps, plankton nets, trawls, dredges, leads, thermometers, a bathometer (a device for taking water samples at different depths), a disk for determining water transparency, a counting microscope, laboratory glassware. All this was needed by the young Moscow zoologist Pavel Galtsov to carry out his first world-famous study. It was limnological (lake studies), and it did not even require a long journey, since the Kosino glacial lakes are located in the Moscow River basin, now in the near Moscow region, a few minutes from the Moscow Ring Road along the Shchelkovo (“Shchelkovskoye”) Highway.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, this area was intensively developed not by scientists, but by summer residents who were thirsty for pastoral landscapes and guaranteed fishing near the capital. “Kosino Three Lakes”, known for its sapropel deposits and unique hydrogeological nature, aroused keen scientific interest since the end of the 19th century. It was the summer cottage expansion that forced science to hurry: it was necessary not only to describe Kosino biocenosis, but also to assign the lakes the status of a natural monument. Grigory Aleksandrovich Kozhevnikov, professor of zoology and director of the Zoological Museum of Moscow University, organized the Kosinskaya Biological Station in 1908. At that moment, he needed a young and intelligent scientist-enthusiast.
He became Pavel Galtsov, then still a student at Moscow University. It was he who studied the physical and chemical conditions of the Kosino lakes (in particular, he described the temperature, transparency and oxygen saturation of the water), as well as the composition of the plankton in them. The young man did not neglect to question local residents: in particular, in conversations with them, he found out that the rapid growth of coastal plants, changing the biosystem of the lakes, is associated with an increase in the number of coastal buildings, because the water stagnates between the bridges, forming a swamp.
Even today, a number of the world’s leading schools of limnology use the fundamental results of Galtsov’s Kosino works, which were published in 1913 in the Diary of the Zoological Department of the Imperial Society of Lovers of Natural Science, Anthropology and Ethnography. And in 1911, Galtsov, who had already received recognition from experienced colleagues, headed the Kosinskaya Biological Station.
Kosino Lakes. Pavel Galtsov’s plan.
Moscow – Sevastopol
In March 1887, a son was born to the family of a Moscow merchant of the second guild, Semyon Galtsov, who was to become one of the leading marine zoologists, a world-famous scientist. The parents sought to give their children a decent education. So the young man first ended up in the gymnasium at the Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages, and then in the private gymnasium of L.I. Polivanov in Moscow, where his interest in natural science was already clearly evident.
In 1905, by the time he entered the natural sciences department of the physics and mathematics faculty of Moscow University, Pavel Galtsov had already decided that he would study invertebrates. He graduated in 1910 with a first-class diploma and a firm intention to pursue science. He remained as an assistant at the zoology department to prepare for a professorship, and also joined the staff of the university Zoological Museum, where he was taken under the wing of Professor Kozhevnikov, a pioneer in the study of the Kosino Lakes. Already in the first years of his independent scientific career, Galtsov received a state scholarship for two years for his research, and was subsequently awarded a gold medal from Moscow University and two cash prizes. At the same time, his romance with graduate student Evgenia Trusova, also a biologist, was gaining momentum. They married in 1911 and lived together for 67 years – until her death in the United States. 
In 1911, Pavel Galtsov married graduate student Evgenia Trusova
Pavel Semyonovich Galtsov was incredibly hard-working and in a short time became one of the leading hydrobiologists in the country. He defended his doctorate and taught invertebrate zoology at Moscow University. However, research in Kosino was not enough for him: he wanted to extend scientific research beyond the Moscow region, especially to study marine fauna. The scientist’s motivation is quite understandable: by 1917, all Russian-language literature on marine planktonology numbered no more than 50 titles.
It is not surprising that Galtsov soon became acquainted with Sergei Alekseevich Zernov, later an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the founder of Russian hydrobiology, who was then working in Sevastopol. Pavel Galtsov willingly joined the expedition to study the plankton of the Black Sea, and as a true enthusiast, he spent the second part of the expedition (from Batumi to Constantinople) alone.
It was then that oysters came into his scientific field of vision. In those years, about ten million individuals of this mollusk were collected annually in the Sevastopol Bay alone for delivery to the capital’s restaurants. But the mollusk is capricious, and is not found in all Black Sea bays and gulfs. Oyster beds are highly dependent on environmental factors: temperature, salinity, chemical composition of the water, and so on. Taste qualities are also directly shaped by habitat conditions.
It should be noted that the above is modern knowledge. At the beginning of the 20th century, this was not at all obvious, and even less supported by scientific research. This is how Pavel Galtsov found his research niche. If it had not been for his subsequent dramatic emigration from his native country, the Black Sea oyster farms could have shared their best practices with the rest of the world a hundred years ago. However, this did not happen, because Galtsov took his scientific interests overseas.
The Great Exodus
Pavel Semyonovich Galtsov began his scientific career by studying freshwater invertebrates
In 1914, at the age of 27, marine biologist Pavel Galtsov was appointed director of the Sevastopol Biological Station of the Imperial Academy of Sciences(now the A.O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas, IBSS), replacing Zernov in this post. He was quite happy studying the Black Sea catch, carefully collected by dredges, in his quiet laboratory. But when World War I broke out, he could not avoid mobilization. The scientist worked as a medical orderly on the Northwestern and Southwestern fronts for three years. His wife completed the Red Cross courses and looked after the wounded in hospitals, for which she received a medal.
Evgenia Galtsova (Trusova) – the scientist’s wife and comrade-in-arms
Only in 1917, thanks to the intercession of influential friends, Pavel Semyonovich returned to Crimea, for some time he studied meteorology for the navy, but did not forget his invertebrates: when the Tauride University opened in 1918, Galtsov taught a popular course there, “The Black Sea and Its Life”.
The World War was over, but the Civil War was already raging. On November 14, 1920, Pavel Galtsov and his wife joined one hundred and forty-five thousand participants in the “Great Russian Exodus” — this is what they call the Sevastopol naval evacuation of units of the Russian army of General Wrangel and the civilian population sympathizing with it, mainly the scientific and creative intelligentsia.
At the age of 27, Galtsov headed the Sevastopol Biological Station
One of the participants in the evacuation, Anastasia Shirinskaya-Manstein, writes about it this way: “We stood for two days at the pier, waiting to be taken in tow. Everything around us was in motion; the Sevastopol port had probably never seen such a concentration of ships and people. The transports, overloaded with troops, sank deep into the water, and headed for the outer roadstead. The platforms at the pier trembled under the heavy steps of the regiments loading.”
The Red Army was already on the territory of Crimea. Several hours to pack, say goodbye to home, friends, favorite collections, then the cramped conditions of the ship, the Black Sea storms, anxiety and hope shared by all the fugitives – and here the hero of our essay arrives in Constantinople. From there, streams of emigrants flowed throughout the world.
New World, New Mollusks
Pavel Semyonovich and his wife spent more than a month in Turkey. Evgenia’s brother, Vasily, who lived in New York, provided them with invaluable assistance, communicating by telegraph: he helped sell several family jewels, obtain new passports, fill out American immigration forms and buy tickets for a steamship – first to the port of Piraeus, Greece, and from there to the United States.
The “Great Exodus” of 1920 brought the Galtsov family first to Constantinople and then to New York
Thus, Pavel Galtsov crossed the Atlantic for the first time, and on January 20, 1921, his story begins as an American marine biologist named Paul Simon Galtsoff. Already in 1921, Dr. T. H. Morgan, head of the Department of Zoology at Columbia University in New York, provided Pavel Semyonovich with laboratory space so that he could continue his research on oysters, sponges, and amoebas, which he had begun at the Sevastopol Biological Station.
In the 1920s, marine zoology in America was in its infancy, although there were influential organizations interested in funding research. First of all, the US Bureau of Fisheries, which oversaw the harvesting of commercial fish and shellfish. Galtsov was hired there initially on a temporary basis for a limnological study of fish, shellfish, and plankton in the upper Mississippi River after the construction of the Keokuk Dam in Iowa. The laboratory at Columbia University mentioned above was given to Galtsov precisely because of this study of the Mississippi, since he collected many plankton samples, and they could only be described qualitatively in laboratory conditions. In the same year of 1921, Pavel Semyonovich published the results of his first American expedition in the Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries, generously supplying the publication with tables, diagrams, and photographs. This was his first scientific work in English.
The Commissioner of the Bureau of Fisheries, Hugh Smith, was impressed by the new employee’s comprehensive approach and in 1923 offered him a permanent position as a naturalist aboard the research vessel Albatross, which was based at the laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Getting such a position without a competitive selection was considered lucky.
At the same time, Galtsov was establishing connections in the academic environment. He entered Columbia University to obtain a doctorate in biology and also became a founding member of the RAG, the Russian Academic Group in the United States. This organization united Russian scientists forced to emigrate and declared its goal to help integrate into scientific research activities in the new country. The main achievement of the RAG is considered to be the opening of the Russian People’s University in New York, which became a center of attraction for Russian-speaking youth.
Pavel Galtsov did not teach at the university, but as his academic position strengthened, he helped other scientists. For example, in 1932, he helped his colleague, marine biologist Victor Loosanoff (Victor Loosanoff), who also fled Russia at the last minute, engulfed in revolutionary madness: he arranged for him to work at the Milford Laboratory (Connecticut), which was studying the fisheries potential of the Middle Atlantic. Subsequently, Lusanoff often became a co-author of Galtsov’s publications.
Mississippi River. Photograph of Pavel Galtsov from the 1921 expedition
Galtsov on board the research boat Zhemchuzhina, Texas, 1926
The quiet harbor of Woods Hole
In Massachusetts, the Bureau of Fisheries had a summer research center. While the universities were on vacation, zoologists from all over the country came here to conduct field research and process it in the local lab. Pavel and Evgenia Galtsov also initially spent only the summer months here. But in 1925, the scientist received an American degree in biology from Columbia University and immediately headed the laboratory for the study of mollusks in Woods Hole. He will remain in this position for more than a quarter of a century – until 1964. Under his leadership, the laboratory will become a world-famous center for invertebrate research. Evgenia Galtsova will continue her scientific career at George Washington University. Engaged in histology, she will significantly help her husband’s research.
Pavel Galtsov in Woods Hole
In 1925, the Bureau of Fisheries commissioned Pavel Galtsov to study mollusks and their habitat in the Long Island Sound. The study was commissioned by the Oyster Growers and Dealers Association (OGDA). If in the 19th century the strait was extremely rich in oysters, then in recent years a dramatic decline in their population has been discovered. In his reporting publications, the scientist found the reasons for this phenomenon: uncontrolled human fishing, as well as predatory hunting by starfish.
Around the same time, the oyster industry suffered another blow – a typhoid fever epidemic associated with oysters from the Chesapeake Bay. The press spread information that the shellfish were dangerous to health, as they contained pathogenic bacteria. Trying to offer a solution to the problem, Galtsov became interested in the movements of the gills of American oysters. It should be noted that it is this organ that provides nutrition to the shellfish, because food particles of plankton are carried by the water current to the gills, then under the action of the oral lobes they enter the mouth opening.
The scientist proposed innovative methods for measuring the speed and volume of water passing through the gills, described the effect of ambient temperature on the gills and oyster nutrition. His report in 1927 was listened to with great attention. Industrialists realized that marine zoology (primarily not observational, but experimental, which was demonstrated by Pavel Galtsov) could be extremely useful for the entire industry. In 1929, funds were allocated for a program of artificial replenishment of oyster banks. The juveniles were obtained in controlled (factory) conditions from larvae, and they were grown to commercial sizes in the sea. Of course, it was necessary to create optimal conditions for the oysters at all stages of the project, and Galtsov consulted industrialists: what containers for larvae should be, the temperature of the water in them, what mixture of vitamins to feed the oyster producers, when and where to plant the young in the sea, how to control the quality of the products, etc. The oyster industry began to gradually revive. And the Woods Hole laboratory received new practical tasks related to the process of mollusc reproduction: to identify the fundamental differences between the processes of spawning by females and the release of milt by males, to describe the effect of temperature on these processes, etc.
Since then, Pavel Semyonovich has studied the reproduction and sexual behavior of oysters, their biochemistry, the reaction of mollusks and their larvae to the content of toxic industrial waste in water, in particular, chlorine, etc. His scientific interests covered sea sponges with their ability to regenerate and undergo cellular regression (when cells move from a specialized function to a simpler one and become close to stem cells, which can then differentiate again, this plays a role in regeneration), echinoderms (especially starfish), oyster toads and other inhabitants of the deep.
During marine research in 1932
As a US citizen, Galtsov could freely study the fauna of the world’s oceans from the Gulf of Mexico to the coral reefs near the Hawaiian Islands. Commissioned by the British government, he studied sponge diseases in the West Indies, and at the request of the Panamanian government, he described pearl fishing and oyster anatomy in the Gulf of Panama, as well as the marine biodiversity of Margarita Island (Venezuela).
He became a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the New York Academy of Sciences, read scientific papers in six languages, published a huge number of articles (more than a hundred on oysters alone), and his 480-page 1964 monograph The American Oyster made his name known even among those who were far from invertebrate zoology. “This book will long remain one of the most comprehensive studies of marine animals ever conducted,” said Harold E. Crowther, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Drawing from the 1964 monograph “The American Oyster”
The monograph is easy to find on Google, and even a cursory glance at it shows how meticulous and attentive Galtsov really was. He describes the methods of studying mollusks and laboratory equipment, species and subspecies of oysters, their normal anatomy and deviations from the norm, chemical structure, biological processes, habitats, natural enemies, diet, factors affecting reproduction and life cycle, and so on. This oyster encyclopedia contains a huge number of tables, graphs, links, microphotographs and drawings.
Scientist at Woods Hole Research Laboratory
In the novel “20 Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” there is an episode when Professor Aronnax finds a rare left-handed shell and hopes to enrich the collection of the Paris Museum with this find (alas, a stone accurately thrown by a native breaks the treasure). Probably, Pavel Galtsov was just as enthusiastic when he examined the Pacific pearl oysters he found, which did not correspond to the previously described species. Unlike Aronnax, he was not disappointed: in 1939, the international classification of mollusks was supplemented with a new species, which immortalized the name of its researcher – Pinctada galtsoffi.
Pinctada galtsoffi – a pearl oyster named after a scientist
Storms and storms
It cannot be said that Pavel Galtsov’s American career was constantly on the rise. In the 1930s, the Great Depression led to a reduction in funding for most scientific projects, including the Woods Hole Laboratory. There was a serious risk that the laboratory would be closed and its funds sold off as “surplus.” Galtsov then put all his energy and all his newly acquired connections into preserving the place and continuing the work. He took on additional responsibilities, including administrative ones, and continued his research, focusing on the control of predatory starfish. He also conducted experiments in growing and fattening oysters.
More and more powerful microscopes gave Galtsov new material for oyster research
World War II was also a difficult period. Then the laboratory was taken under control of the US Navy, and “peaceful” research was minimized. In 1944, Pavel Galtsov was looking forward to a new period of growth and tried to establish joint work with federal scientists, but a new disaster came in the form of a powerful hurricane of the 4th category – they are not uncommon for the east coast of America. On September 14, 1944, most of the Woods Hole buildings were damaged by the elements, and Galtsov again had to find funds, deal with restoration, and convince everyone of the importance of research. Only three years later, in 1947, the laboratory was revived. At that time, Galtsov was enthusiastically studying the blood of oysters under various environmental conditions, and also described the so-called “red tides”, when coastal sea waters acquire a bloody hue due to the mass reproduction of plankton.
On behalf of the US government, Pavel Galtsov joined the team of scientists in the summer of 1946 as part of Operation Crossroads, the second series of atomic bomb tests on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. He documented the devastating impact of atomic weapons on marine life around the test site. It was from this time that his articles increasingly expressed concern about the pollution of seas and rivers with crude oil, cellulose, heavy metals and other products of human activity. Often repeating that “there is no good pollution”, the scientist advocated informing the general public about the consequences of environmental disasters. After all, fish and oysters from poisoned waters will ultimately end up on our tables.
Eight years ago, the US government declassified and published some documents from which we learn about another, non-obvious, role of Galtsov during the Pacific nuclear tests. Since Russian was his native language, the scientist was assigned to “keep an eye” on representatives of the scientific community of the USSR who were present at these tests. These were the head of the cyclotron laboratory of the Radium Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences M. G. Meshcheryakov and expert to the USSR representative in the UN Commission on Atomic Energy Control S.P. Aleksandrov.
Despite the lack of any intimate conversations between them, Galtsov, upon returning to the United States, was interrogated (interviewed!) by the secret services. He said that both Soviet observers, in his opinion, were NKVD agents and reported directly to Beria, who had recently taken over the Soviet “Atomic Project.” In his diary, Galtsov wrote that he was alarmed by some statements by his colleagues from the USSR. In particular, they stated that “America is vulnerable in many places, and cities like Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Denver can easily be bombed.” At the same time, the guests from Moscow preferred not to talk about the progress of the Soviet atomic program, saying only that they “were not afraid” of a demonstration of force by the United States.
Spy games and political polemics were not pleasant for Galtsov. He always returned to his microscopes and sinks with relief.
Galtsov and his wife lived in Massachusetts until the end of their lives
Legacy
In 1972, seeking to summarize what zoology knows about his favorite marine inhabitants, Galtsov published an impressive work called “Bibliography of Oysters and Other Marine Organisms Associated with Oysters.” It contains more than 17,500 references to scientific papers collected over 43 years of research. This would be enough for the entire Oyster Institute. The bibliography weighs more than four kilograms. It can be found today in any laboratory that studies bivalves.
Pavel Semyonovich Galtsov retired in 1957, but continued to lead an active lifestyle and participate in the work of scientific institutions in Massachusetts. He recalled his experience at the zoological museum of Moscow University and was quite involved in the work of the public aquarium of the Woods Hole laboratory, and enjoyed preparing exhibits for it. According to his colleagues, he enjoyed wandering among the visitors to assess their honest reaction to the exhibits. For example, many people had never seen live invertebrates, such as squid, starfish, and sponges. Sharks were also exhibited in the open pool of the aquarium, which aroused great interest. Galtsov recalled an amusing incident: “I heard how one rather fat and loud guy offered a bet from 5 to 25 dollars that he would enter the water where sharks were swimming and remain there motionless for 10 minutes. The man stripped down to his swimming trunks and entered the water, and his companions anxiously looked at their watches. When he successfully emerged from the pool and collected his bet, I quietly informed him that the great sand sharks in the pool were slow-moving animals that fed on small fish and never attacked humans. Since the explanation did not please the winner, I hastily left.
In 1962, Paul Galtsoff became a chronicler of his workplace, publishing “The story of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries at Woods Hole.” He was also an active member of the National Shellfisheries Association (The National Shellfisheries Association) and was awarded the “Distinguished Life Member” award. Today, this organization presents the “Paul Galtsoff Industry Award” to scientists who have successfully bridged the gap between science and industry. In 2023, it was received by Leslie Sturmer and Don Webster.
It is not surprising that oystermen remember “Paul Simon Galtzoff” with gratitude. He appeared in the USA at the very moment when the industry was going through a severe crisis, and the demand for “white gold” (as oysters were called) was decreasing annually. Strong companies were then ready to invest in research and technology and cooperate with the government in this. They needed to understand why natural oyster beds were dying out, how they could be revived, what would ensure the prosperity of oyster farms, etc. The research of Galtzoff and his followers over half a century allowed the business not only to survive, but to strengthen and occupy the current niche of “elite gastronomy”. Largely thanks to Galtzoff, it became clear how oysters and fish suffer from pollution washed into coastal waters, and this led to the construction of treatment facilities and careful environmental monitoring. Methods for obtaining young fish were developed, optimal conditions for breeding mollusks on farms were described, and safe varietal oysters were bred, intended specifically for human consumption.
Pavel Galtsov’s works also clarify the role of oysters in coastal waters. Thanks to their “filtration feeding”, oysters pass an average of 200 liters of seawater per day through their gills. They work as a natural filter, since in the process the water becomes clearer and better saturated with oxygen. In short, this mechanism can be described as follows: the gills are covered with microscopic “cilia” that act as a sieve, separating solid and semi-solid components from the water. This is plankton and various substances that get into the sea as a result of human activity (for example, suspended matter from drains). The oyster passes water through itself and throws it out, and mixes the solid component with “saliva” and sends it to the stomach and intestines. The mollusk excretes everything undigested and unsuitable for food in the form of feces. Thus, impurities and suspended matter that polluted coastal waters turn into biodeposits that settle on the ocean floor. Galtsov devoted many pages in his scientific works to the fascinating process of oyster feeding. Thanks in large part to him, oyster farmers began to restore not only for commercial purposes, but also for environmental ones. But the Russian oyster industry never took off after Galtsov’s emigration. Even today, more attention is paid to mussels in the Black Sea, despite the obvious advantages of oysters as a food product.
National Shellfish Association Presents Distinguished Scientists with Paul Galtsov Award
Pavel Galtsov died in August 1979 at the age of 92, only a year after his faithful companion, Evgenia, and was buried in Massachusetts. More than 200 boxes of his articles, reports, photographs, and letters were donated to the Pell Marine Science Library at the University of Rhode Island. However, Galtsov’s name is not widely known in Russian scientific circles, and this biographical essay is intended to partially restore justice. Since oyster production, according to Nature magazine, currently accounts for about 50% of the world’s shellfish production, our compatriot’s contribution to this industry is difficult to overestimate. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the US Department of Commerce (NOAA), which today oversees deep-sea research and protection of marine fauna, calls Pavel Galtsov the person who brought marine zoology to a new level, and with it the oyster industry and fishing throughout the world.
Text by ANNA KUTUZOVA
Links
P. S. Galtsoff Semanticscholar.org.
Paul Simon Galtsoff: Oyster Researcher and Woods Hole Lab Advocate.
Eugenia Galtsoff: Russian Immigrant Scientist with Mythological Fortitude.
Pioneering Shellfish Bioligists Series Paul S. Galtsoff by Maille Lyons.
The American Oyster by Paul Galtsoff.
Unattributed Memorandum, “Interview with Dr. Paul S. Galtsoff,” 21 August 1946, Secret.
Necropolis of the Russian Diaspora Pavel Galtsov
Galtsov Pavel Semenovich. Media Archive
Galtsev P.S. Research of Kosinsky Lakes.
History of the oyster industry in the USA.
Анна Кутузова 2.08.2024