Frederick Merkle Bayer (October 31, 1921 – October 2, 2007) was an

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...

, as well as a prominent

marine biologist Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many scientific classification, phyla, family (biology), families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others th ...

who specialized in the study of

soft coral Alcyonacea, or soft corals, are an order of corals. In addition to the fleshy soft corals, the order Alcyonacea now contains all species previously known as "gorgonian corals", that produce a more or less hard skeleton, though quite different f ...

Early life

Frederick Bayer was born on

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

night 1921, in

Asbury Park, New Jersey Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 15,188

, but spent much of his childhood in

south Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

, where he collected

seashells A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer usually created by an animal or organism that lives in the sea. The shell is part of the body of the animal. Empty seashells are often found washe ...

and became an amateur naturalist. Bayer joined the

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

from December 1942 to December 1945. While in the Army Air Forces, he was a photographic technician with the 36th Photo Reconnaissance unit in the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. While in the military, he often sketched and collected

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

, shells and

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

throughout New Guinea, the Philippines, and Okinawa. Bayer received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

. He continued his studies and obtained a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

from

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

in 1954. In 1958, he completed a doctorate in taxonomy from George Washington University.

Career

Bayer worked at the Smithsonian's

from 1947 until 1961. He returned to work at the museum again from 1975 until 1996. He served as a professor at the

Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science The Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS ) is the University of Miami's academic and research institution for the study of oceanography and atmospheric sciences. Founded in 1943, the University of Miami's Rosenstiel Schoo ...

between 1961 and 1975. While at the University of Miami, Bayer participated in a number of soft coral-collecting expeditions in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

and in the waters off

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

. Following his arrival at the Smithsonian, Bayer was sent to

Bikini Atoll Bikini Atoll ( or ; Marshallese: , , meaning "coconut place"), sometimes known as Eschscholtz Atoll between the 1800s and 1946 is a coral reef in the Marshall Islands consisting of 23 islands surrounding a central lagoon. After the Second ...

in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

to study the effects of

nuclear testing Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by ...

on the island's

marine life Marine life, sea life, or ocean life is the plants, animals and other organisms that live in the salt water of seas or oceans, or the brackish water of coastal estuaries. At a fundamental level, marine life affects the nature of the planet. M ...

, as part of the re-survey conducted one year after the Able and Baker tests of 1946 were carried out. Bayer also spent several months doing field research throughout the rest of

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and ...

. Bayer wrote over 130 scholarly papers on the history and

. He focused much of his soft coral research on

octocoral Octocorallia (also known as Alcyonaria) is a class of Anthozoa comprising around 3,000 species of water-based organisms formed of colonial polyps with 8-fold symmetry. It includes the blue coral, soft corals, sea pens, and gorgonians (sea fans ...

s, which include

sea fan Alcyonacea, or soft corals, are an order of corals. In addition to the fleshy soft corals, the order Alcyonacea now contains all species previously known as "gorgonian corals", that produce a more or less hard skeleton, though quite different f ...

s and

sea whip Alcyonacea, or soft corals, are an order of corals. In addition to the fleshy soft corals, the order Alcyonacea now contains all species previously known as "gorgonian corals", that produce a more or less hard skeleton, though quite different f ...

s. He discovered 170 new species of

, 40 new

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

, and three new

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Emperor Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

, who was also a marine biologist, actually named a hydroid, '' Hydractinia bayeri'', in honor of Frederick Bayer. Bayer returned the favor while Hirohito was on a

state visit A state visit is a formal visit by a head of state to a foreign country, at the invitation of the head of state of that foreign country, with the latter also acting as the official host for the duration of the state visit. Speaking for the host ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in 1975. He presented Hirohito with a rare

snail A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastro ...

shell which was the "size of a hat." Bayer served as a member of the

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries. Orga ...

from 1972 to 1995. He was also an accomplished biological illustrator. Bayer painted and designed a total of fourteen scientifically accurate marine scenes. These particular scenes were used for a set of Haitian postage stamps in 1973.

Death

Frederick Bayer died of

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

on October 2, 2007, at the Washington Home hospice in Washington D.C. at the age of 85.

Taxa named in honor

Taxa named in honor of Frederick Bayer include: * '' Bayerxenia'' Alderslade, 2001Cairns S. D. (2008). "Frederick M. Bayer – Commissioner 1972-1995, octocoral taxonomist and Smithsonian curator". ''

Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries. Orga ...

'' 65(2)
86-87
* '' Bayericerithium'' Petuch, 2001 * '' Bayerotrochus'' Harasewych, 2002 * ''

Bayergorgia ''Bayergorgia'' is a monotypic genus of corals belonging to the family Plexauridae Plexauridae is a family of marine colonial octocorals in the phylum Cnidaria. Members of this family are found in shallow tropical and subtropical seas. Many spe ...

'' Williams & López-González, 2005 * '' Hydractinia bayeri'' Hirohito, 1984

Taxa named by him

Taxa named by Frederick Bayer include: gastropods: * '' Babelomurex fax'' (F. M. Bayer, 1971) * '' Babelomurex sentix'' (Bayer, 1971) * '' Bayerotrochus midas'' (Bayer, 1965) * '' Bayerotrochus pyramus'' (Bayer, 1967) * ''Cyomesus chaunax'' (Bayer, 1971) and ''Teramachia chaunax'' Bayer, 1971 are synonyms of '' Latiromitra cryptodon'' (P. Fischer, 1882)Kantor, Y.; Gofas, S. (2010). ''Latiromitra cryptodon''. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2010) World Marine Mollusca database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=141851 on 2011-09-12 * '' Lyria cordis'' Bayer, 1971 * ''

Peristarium ''Peristarium'' is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Turbinellidae Turbinellidae are a family of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Neogastropoda. Members of this family are predators. Distrib ...

'' Bayer, 1971 * '' Peristarium aurora'' (Bayer, 1971) * '' Peristarium electra'' (Bayer, 1971) * '' Peristarium merope'' (Bayer, 1971) * '' Perotrochus amabilis'' (Bayer, 1963) * '' Perotrochus lucaya'' Bayer, 1965 * ''

Scaphella evelina ''Scaphella evelina'', commonly known as the Evelyn's volute is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Volutidae ''Volutidae'', common name volutes, are a taxonomic family of predatory sea snails that range in s ...

'' Bayer, 1971 * '' Siphonochelus tityrus'' (Bayer, 1971) * '' Thelyssa'' Bayer, 1971 * '' Thelyssa callisto'' Bayer, 1971 * '' Volutomitra erebus'' Bayer, 1971 * '' Volutomitra persephone'' Bayer, 1971 bivalves: * '' Amphichama inezae'' (F. M. Bayer, 1943)

References

External links

portrait of Frederick Bayer

publication list

at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, Department of Invertebrate Zoology website {{DEFAULTSORT:Bayer, Frederick 1921 births 2007 deaths American curators American malacologists American marine biologists American stamp designers Smithsonian Institution people United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II George Washington University alumni People from Asbury Park, New Jersey University of Miami alumni University of Miami faculty United States Army Air Forces soldiers 20th-century American zoologists