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George S. Myers

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George Sprague Myers (February 2, 1905 – November 4, 1985) was an American ichthyologist who spent most of his career at Stanford University. He served as the editor of Stanford Ichthyological Bulletin as well as president of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. Myers was also head of the Division of Fishes at the United States National Museum, and held a position as an ichthyologist for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. He was also an advisor in fisheries and ichthyology to the Brazilian Government.

He was a prolific writer of papers and books and is well known to aquarists as the man who first described numerous popular aquarium species such as the flame tetra (Hyphessobrycon flammeus), the black-winged hatchetfish (Carnegiella marthae), the ram cichlid (Microgeophagus ramirezi) and, most notably, the neon tetra. He also erected the genera Aphyosemion and Fundulopanchax, which include dozens of widely kept killifish species. He is perhaps best known to aquarists for his collaborations with William T. Innes who wrote the classic book Exotic Aquarium Fishes. Myers served as the scientific consultant for this seminal work in the aquarium literature and, after Innes retired, served as the editor for later editions. When Myers described the neon tetra in 1936, he named it Hyphessobrycon innesi in honor of Innes. The species was later moved to the genus Paracheirodon and is now known as Paracheirodon innesi.

He was an ichthyologist with the 1938 Allan Hancock Pacific Expedition. He participated as a biologist in the U.S. Navy's 1947 Bikini Scientific Resurvey.[1][2]

Myers worked closely with fellow ichthyologist and Stanford Natural History Museum curator, Margaret Hamilton Storey.[3]

Taxon named in his honor

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In the scientific field of herpetology his major interest was amphibians.

Taxon described by him

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References

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  1. ^ Cattell, Jaques, ed. (1949). American Men of Science: A Biographical Dictionary. Lancaster, Pennsylvania: The Science Press. p. 1791.
  2. ^ "Bikini Scientific Resurvey, 1947". Smithsonian Institution Archives.
  3. ^ Walford, Lionel A. (1970). "On the Natural History of George Sprague Myers". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences. Fourth Series. 38 (1): 1-18.
  4. ^ Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Myers, G.S.", p. 186).
  5. ^ Greer, Allen E.; Parker, Fred (1968). "Geomyersia glabra, a new genus and species of scinciid lizard from Bougainville, Solomon Islands, with comments on the relationship of some lygosomine genera". Breviora (302): 1-17.
  6. ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (12 April 2021). "Order Perciformes: Suborder Notothenoididei: Families Bovichtidae, Pseaudaphritidae, Elegopinidae, Nototheniidae, Harpagiferidae, Artedidraconidae, Bathydraconidae, Channichthyidae and Percophidae". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  7. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Gambusia georgei year-2019". FishBase.
  8. ^ "iucn status 20 November 2021"
  9. ^ Christopher Scharpf; Kenneth J. Lazara (26 October 2019). "Order CYPRINODONTIFORMES: Families POECILIIDAE, ANABLEPIDAE, VALENCIIDAE, APHANIIDAE and PROCATOPODIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  10. ^ "ITIS - Report: Hypostomus myersi". www.itis.gov. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  11. ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (22 September 2018). "Family LORICARIIDAE: Subfamily HYPOSTOMINAE Kner 1853 (Suckermouth Catfishes or Plecos)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  12. ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (22 September 2018). "Order OPHIDIIFORMES: Families CARAPIDAE and OPHIDIIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  13. ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (22 September 2018). "Order ANGUILLIFORMES: Family OPHICHTHIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Archived from the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.

Further reading

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Smithsonian Institution Archives