Gerald R. Allen
Gerald Robert Allen (* 1942 in Los Angeles , California ) is an American-Australian ichthyologist .
His passion for marine life, especially coral fish , began in the summer of 1963 when he was doing a semester at the University of Hawaii . As an assistant to John Ernest Randall at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu , he took part in the first ichthyological excursions to the Marshall Islands and Easter Island . In 1972 Allen wrote his doctoral thesis on the systematics and biology of the anemonefish and then worked for a short time in the fisheries authority in Palau .
He emigrated to Australia with his wife and son and initially worked as an ichthyologist at the Australian Museum in Sydney. In 1974 he became a curator at the Western Australian Museum in Perth . In this function he was also particularly concerned with the freshwater fish of Australia. In 1998, Allen retired. However, he continues to publish scientific papers. For example, he works for the non-profit organization Conservation International (especially for the conservation of biodiversity in the area of the Vogelkop Peninsula), but occasionally he also takes part in field studies for The Nature Conservancy and the WWF .
Allen undertook u. a. Research trips to the Great Barrier Reef , the Red Sea , South Africa , the Maldives , New Guinea , Japan and Central America . He was particularly interested in damselfish , wrasse , cardinalfish and gobies . He also studied the freshwater fish of Australia and New Guinea, such as the rainbow fish .
Gerald Allen discovered and described hundreds of fish. He has written 33 books and around 400 scientific papers. He spent about 8,000 hours underwater. In 2003 he received the K. Radway Allen Award from the Australian Society for Fish Biology for outstanding scientific achievements in the field.
In addition to his ichthyological work, Allen does ornithology , is a mountaineer and runs marathons .
Dedication names
A good two dozen fish species were named in honor of Gerald Allen, including the Pavoraja alleni ray species in 1982 and the rainbow fish Chilatherina alleni in 1997 .
Publications (selection)
- Butterfly and angelfish , Volume 2, Atlantic, Caribbean, Red Sea and Indo-Pacific , Hans A. Baensch . Preface by Konrad Lorenz, Mergus Verlag, Melle 1979, ISBN 3-88244-002-3 .
- Damselfish of the world . Mergus Verlag, Melle 1991, ISBN 3-88244-007-4
- with Daphne G. Fautin: Anemonefish and their hosts . Tetra-Verlag, Melle 1995, ISBN 3-89356-171-4
- Fascinating rainbow fish. Brilliantly colored schooling fish in nature and in the aquarium . Tetra-Verlag, Velten 1996, ISBN 3-89356-201-X
- Tropical marine fauna and flora . Weimarer Taschenbuch Verlag, Weimar 1998, ISBN 962-593-310-7
literature
- KORALLE in conversation with Gerald Allen . In: CORAL. Marine aquarium specialist magazine , No. 50, April / May 2008, ISSN 1439-779X , pp.? - ?.
Web links
- Literature by and about Gerald R. Allen in the catalog of the German National Library
- Australian Society for Fish Biology, Hall of Fame: Dr Gerald R. Allen ( Memento from May 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- Interview: Anatomy of a fish ecologist: Gerry Allen
Individual evidence
- ^ William Eschmeyer: Catalog of Fishes (accessed February 16, 2016)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Allen, Gerald R. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Allen, Gerald |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Australian ichthyologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1942 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | los Angeles |