François-Louis Nompar de Caumont Laporte, comte de Castelnau (born ''François-Louis Nompar de Caumont La Force''; 24 December 1802 – 4 February 1880) was a French naturalist, known also as François Laporte or Francis de Castelnau. The standard author abbreviation Castelnau is used to indicate him when citing a botanical name and zoological names other than insects. Laporte is typically used when citing an insect name, or Laporte de Castelnau.

Life

Born in London, Castelnau studied natural history in Paris. From 1837 to 1841 he traveled in the United States,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, and Canada. He visited Middle

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

from November 1837 until March 1838, publishing "Essai sur la Floride du Milieu" in 1843. In Canada he studied the fauna of the Canadian lakes and the river systems of Upper and

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

(roughly corresponding to the modern provinces of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

and

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

) and of the United States. Castelnau, a French savant, was sent by

Louis Philippe Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary War ...

, in 1843, with two

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

s and a

taxidermist Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proce ...

, on an expedition to cross South America from

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

, following the watershed between the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

and

La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. According to the , it has a population of 654,324 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 787,294 inhabitants. It is located 9 kilometers (6 miles) inland from th ...

river systems, and thence to

Pará Pará is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian state) ...

. He was gone for five years, with the expedition lasting into 1847. During the expedition, he also collected word lists of various indigenous South American languages, including Bororoan languages and Guachi. In 1856-57, he visited the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

, travelling as far east as

Algoa Bay Algoa Bay is a maritime bay in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is located in the east coast, east of the Cape of Good Hope. Algoa Bay is bounded in the west by Cape Recife and in the east by Cape Padrone. The bay is up to deep. The harbour c ...

, and subsequently wrote a treatise on South African fish (1861). He served as the French consul in

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

in 1848; in

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...

sometime between 1856 and 1858, and in

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metropol ...

from 1864 to 1877.

Hoax Australian fish

Through no fault of his own, Castelnau's name is attached to an Australian

hoax A hoax is a widely publicized falsehood so fashioned as to invite reflexive, unthinking acceptance by the greatest number of people of the most varied social identities and of the highest possible social pretensions to gull its victims into pu ...

. "''

Ompax spatuloides ''Ompax spatuloides'' was a hoax fish "discovered" in Australia in August, 1872. Said to be poisonous, it could be found on some lists of Australian fishes through the 1930s. The fish was a joke perpetrated by people at Gayndah station, Queensla ...

''", a supposed

ganoid A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as w ...

fish said to have been discovered in 1872 and named by Castelnau, was a joke originally directed at Karl Staiger, the director of the Brisbane Museum. Staiger forwarded a sketch and description of the made-up fish to Castelnau, who duly described it.

Legacy

Castelnau is commemorated, among others, in the scientific names of: * a species of Australian gecko, ''

Oedura castelnaui The northern velvet gecko (''Oedura castelnaui'') is a species of lizard in the family Diplodactylidae. The species is endemic to Queensland in Australia. Etymology The specific name, ''castelnaui'', is in honor of French naturalist Francis de ...

'', Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Castelnau", p. 49). * a species of ground beetle, '' Megacephala castelnaui'', * a species of scarab beetle, '' Hybosorus laportei'', * an

aphid Aphids are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white woolly aphids. A t ...

'' Cinara laportei'', * the spotback skate, '' Atlantoraja castelnaui'' * the plant genus ''

Laportea ''Laportea'' is a genus of plants in the family Urticaceae. They are herbaceous, either annual or perennial. Like many plants of the Urticaceae, they have stinging hairs. There are stinging and non-stinging hairs on the same plant. The genus was ...

''.

Works

*''Histoire naturelle'', 1837. *''Expédition dans les parties centrales de l'Amérique: histoire naturelle des insectes coléoptères'', 1840. *with

Hippolyte Louis Gory Hippolyte Louis Gory (27 September 1800 – 26 April 1852) was a French entomologist. Life Hippolyte Louis Gory was born in Paris, 5th arrondissement the 27 (or the 28) September 1800 (the exact date is 5 vendémiaire an IX in the republican ca ...

, 1837–1841). *''Vues et souvenirs de l'Amérique du Nord'', 1842. *"Essai sur la Floride du Milieu", ''Nouvelles Annales des Voyages et des Sciences Géographiques'', IV, 1843. *, 1843.

Notes

References

External links

*
Francis de Castelnau's expedition

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laporte, Francois Louis French naturalists French taxonomists 1802 births 1880 deaths French entomologists Explorers of Amazonia 19th-century French zoologists 19th-century French diplomats