Franz Steindachner
Franz Steindachner was an Austrian zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He published over 200 papers on fishes and over 50 papers on reptiles and amphibians. Steindachner described hundreds of new species of fish and dozens of new amphibians and reptiles. At least seven species of reptile have been named after him.
Work and career
Being interested in natural history, Steindachner took up the study of fossil fishes on the recommendation of his friend Eduard Suess. In 1860 he was appointed to the position of director of the fish collection at the Natural History Museum, Vienna, a position which had remained vacant since the death of Johann Jakob Heckel.Steindachner's reputation as an ichthyologist grew, and in 1868 he was invited by Louis Agassiz to accept a position at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. Steindachner took part in the Hassler Expedition of 1871–1872. In 1874 he returned to Vienna, and in 1887 was appointed director of the zoological department of the Natural History Museum. In 1898 he was promoted to director of the museum.
He travelled extensively during his career, his research trips taking him throughout the Iberian Peninsula, the Red Sea, the Canary Islands, Senegal, Latin America, et al. In his zoological studies, his interests were mainly from a systematic and faunistic standpoint.
Among his better known works in ichthyology are Ichthyologische Notizen, Ichthyologische Beiträge, and Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Flussfische Südamerikas, the latter work dealing with river fish of South America. In the field of herpetology, he published Die Schlangen und Eidechsen der Galapagos-Inseln.
From 1875, he was member of the Vienna Academy of Sciences. In 1892 he became a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.
Eponymy
A number of taxa have been named from Steindachner's collections after him:Fish generaSteindachneria, a fish genus of the western Atlantic;.Steindachneridion, a genus of fish in South America discovered by Steindachner, is named after him.Steindachnerina, a genus of fish in South America.
Fish speciesLeptagoniates steindachneri, an Amazon river fishIstiblennius steindachneri, a combtooth blenny from the Western Indian Ocean Nosferatu steindachneri, a Mexican cichlidBario steindachneri, a characin from Peru and BrazilTaractichthys steindachneri, a pomfret from the Indo-Pacific. Synodontis steindachneri from Africa, an upside down catfishTrachydoras steindachneri, a thorny catfish from the AmazonLabeobarbus steindachneri, a barb from the CameroonsPhoxinus steindachneri, a minnow from north east AsiaRaiamas steindachneri, a cyprinidRhinoptera steindachneri, the Golden Cownosed rayCathorops steindachneri, Steindachner's sea catfishGymnothorax steindachneri, the Brown Speckled Moray eelGnathocharax steindachneri, the Arowana Tetra, a characin from the Amazon and OrinocoGeophagus steindachneri the Redhump Eartheater, a cichlid from Northeast South AmericaLuciobarbus steindachneri, a barbel from the Iberian peninsulaOphioblennius steindachneri, a blenny from the Eastern PacificPetrocephalus steindachneri Fowler, 1958, a Mormyrid from TanzaniaCynoscion steindachneri, a drumHypoptopoma steindachneri, a Loricariid Haemulon steindachneri, a chere-chere gruntUmbrina steindachneri, a drumHypomasticus steindachneri, a South American headstanderNematabramis steindachnerii Popta, 1905, a Bornean danio
Reptile speciesAmphisbaena steindachneri, a worm lizard from South AmericaChelodina steindachneri, a long necked turtle from AustraliaLucasium steindachneri, a gecko from AustraliaKinosternon steindachneri, a Florida mud turtle Lioscincus steindachneri, a skink from New CaledoniaMicrurus steindachneri, a snakePalea steindachneri, a softshell turtle from China and Southeast Asia,Phrynocephalus steindachneri, a lizard ,Pseudalsophis steindachneri, a species of snake from the Galápagos Islands.
Bird species and subspecies
- Speckle-chested piculet,
InvertebratesAphonopelma steindachneri, a spider from the area of Southern California to Baja California.Bombus steindachneri, a Mexican bumblebeeNeduba steindachneri, a katydidStenomax steindachneri, a beetleCopiopteryx steindachneri, a mothOnchidella steindachneri, a sea slugAbralia steindachneri, a squidCeratothoa steindachneri'', a fish parasite