Seth Eugene Meek (April 1, 1859, Hicksville, Ohio – July 6, 1914, Chicago) was an American ichthyologist at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. He was the first compiler of a book on Mexican freshwater fishes.[1] Together with his assistant, Samuel F. Hildebrand, he produced the first book on the freshwater fishes of Panama.[2]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/Seth_Eugene_Meek_%281859-1914%29.jpg/220px-Seth_Eugene_Meek_%281859-1914%29.jpg)
He often collaborated with Charles H. Gilbert, and in 1884 on a collecting trip through the Ozarks, they discovered a new species, Etheostoma nianguae, which only lives in the Osage River basin.[3] Also with them on that excursion was David Starr Jordan, considered the father of modern ichthyology.
After the Ozarks trip, Meek accepted the post of professor of biology and geology at Arkansas Industrial University (now the University of Arkansas).[3]
Tribute
editThe American halfbeak was named in his honor Hyporhamphus meeki,[4] as were the Mezquital pupfish (Cyprinodon meeki) and the firemouth cichlid (Thorichthys meeki).
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Britz, Ralf (2007). "Review of Freshwater Fishes of México by R. R. Miller et al". Acta Zoologica. 89 (1): 87–88. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6395.2007.00292.x.
- ^ Schultz, Leonard P. (1950). "Samuel Frederick Hildebrand". Copeia. 1950 (1): 2–7. JSTOR 1437573.
- ^ a b Magers, Vince (September 1999). "Ichthyology's Golden Age". Missouri Conservationist. Archived from the original on 2006-09-30.
- ^ Christopher Scharpf; Kenneth J. Lazara (15 June 2019). "Order BELONIFORMES (Needlefishes)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
Further reading
edit- Committee on Memorials, American Society of Zoologists (1916). "Seth Eugene Meek". Science. New Series. 43 (1100): 141.