In 1919–1920, he undertook a scientific expedition to French West Africa (Senegal, Guinea) on behalf of the museum, during which he collected thousands of zoological specimens.
Following his return to Paris, he served as a preparator in the laboratory of biologist Jean Abel Gruvel at the museum.
He specialized in the anatomy and systematics of the flatfish (order Pleuronectiformes) and was the taxonomic authority of many herpetological and ichthyological species.