Gerald Robert "Gerry" Allen (born March 26, 1942 in Los Angeles, California) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

-born

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...

. His career began in 1963, when he spent a semester at the University of Hawaii, where he also received a PhD in marine zoology in 1971. In 1972, Allen wrote his doctoral thesis on the systematics and biology of the

anemone fish Clownfish or anemonefish are fishes from the subfamily Amphiprioninae in the family Pomacentridae. Thirty species of clownfish are recognized: one in the genus ''Maroon clownfish, Premnas'', while the remaining are in the genus ''Amphiprion'' ...

. In 1974, he was made curator at the Western Australian Museum in Perth till 1997, where Allen moved to Conservation International, working as a science team leader undertaking coral reef fish surveys in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and the Philippines until 2003. Allen has written 33 books and about 400 scientific papers. In 2003, he received the

K. Radway Allen Award The K. Radway Allen Award is the highest honour awarded by the Australian Society for Fish Biology. It recognises individuals who have made an "outstanding contribution in fish or fisheries science."Australian Society for Fish Biology for his scientific achievements in fish biology."K. Radway Allen Award"
Australian Society for Fish Biology, official website. Accessed 3 March 2017. He has mapped and analysed the distributions of all

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

coral reef fishes. Allen continues to publish scientific papers and is involved in the nonprofit organisation

Conservation International Conservation International (CI) is an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia. CI's work focuses on science, policy and partnership with businesses, governments and communities. The organ ...

, especially for the preservation of biodiversity in the area of

Vogelkop Peninsula The Bird's Head Peninsula ( Indonesian: ''Kepala Burung'', nl, Vogelkop) or Doberai Peninsula (''Semenanjung Doberai''), is a large peninsula that makes up the northwest portion of the island of New Guinea, comprising the Indonesian provinces ...

Taxon named in his honor

*The fish genus ''

Allenichthys Glauert's anglerfish, ''Allenichthys glauerti'', is an anglerfish that is in the monotypic genus, ''Allenichthys''. It can grow to a length of TL and can be found in deep waters around Southern Australia Australia, officially the Co ...

'' Pietsch 1984 is named after him.

The following species

*The sandburrower ''

Creedia alleni ''Creedia alleni'' is a species of sandburrowers found in the Eastern Indian Ocean in Australia. This species reaches a length of . Etymology The sandburrower is named in honor of Gerald R. Allen (b. 1942), of the Western Australia Museum in Pe ...

J. S. Nelson ''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...

1983 in honor of Allen for his many contributions to ichthyology at the Western Australia Museum in Perth, who brought this species to Nelson’s attention knowing he would describe it. *The little rainbow wrasse ''

Dotalabrus alleni The little rainbow wrasse (''Dotalabrus alleni'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish which is classified within the wrasse family Labridae. It is found in the south eastern Indian Ocean off Western Australia from the Recherche Archipelago ...

Russell Russell may refer to: People * Russell (given name) * Russell (surname) * Lady Russell (disambiguation) * Lord Russell (disambiguation) Places Australia *Russell, Australian Capital Territory *Russell Island, Queensland (disambiguation) **Ru ...

1988 was named in honor of Allen who collected the type series and drew Russell’s attention to the species that had not been previously described. *The Wrasse ''

Labropsis alleni ''Labropsis'' is a genus of wrasses native to the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Species The currently recognized species in this genus are: * ''Labropsis alleni'' John Ernest Randall, J. E. Randall, 1981 (Allen's tubelip) * ''Labropsi ...

Randall Randall may refer to the following: Places United States *Randall, California, former name of White Hall, California, an unincorporated community * Randall, Indiana, a former town *Randall, Iowa, a city *Randall, Kansas, a city *Randall, Minnesot ...

1981 was named in honor of Allen who collected six of the fourteen type specimens. *The sole ''

Leptachirus alleni ''Leptachirus'' is a genus of small soles native to brackish and fresh water in New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in ...

2007 is named after Allen who collected the type specimens. *The skate ''

Pavoraja alleni ''Pavoraja alleni'', or Allen's skate, is a species of fish in the family Arhynchobatidae. It is bathydemersal and lives on soft bottoms of the continental shelf in depths from . It is native to Australia. Its maximum length is . It lays egg caps ...

'' McEachran & Fechhelm, 1982 is named after him. *The perchlet ''

Plectranthias alleni ''Plectranthias'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the subfamily Anthiinae, part of the family Serranidae, the groupers and sea basses. They are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean. Species There are currently 57 recognized species i ...

1980 was named after Allen who provided the type specimens to Randall knowing that the species was undescribed and Randall would describe it. *The goby ''

Schismatogobius alleni ''Schismatogobius'' is a genus of fish in the subfamily Gobionellinae. They are native to southern and eastern Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands. Adults dwell in freshwater habitat such as streams and rivers, where they live along the sand ...

Keith Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

, Lord & Larson, 2017 in honor of Allen for his extensive work on the freshwater fish fauna of Papua New Guinea. *The goby ''

Stenogobius alleni ''Stenogobius'' is a genus of fish in the goby subfamily, Gobionellinae. They are native to fresh, brackish and marine waters along the coasts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. They are known commonly as coastal stream gobies. The genus is div ...

'' Watson 1991 is named in honor of Allen because of his contributions to the freshwater ichthyology of Papua New Guinea. *Allen's shrimpgoby ''

Tomiyamichthys alleni ''Tomiyamichthys alleni'', Allen's shrimpgoby, is a species of ray-finned fish from the family Gobiidae. It occurs in the western Pacific Ocean where it is commensal with an aplheid shrimp. Description ''Tomiyamichthys alleni'' has meristic ...

'' Iwata, Ohnishi &

Hirata Hirata may refer to: Places *Hirata, Fukushima, former village in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan *Hirata, Gifu, former town in Gifu Prefecture, Japan *Hirata, Shimane, former city in Shimane Prefecture, Japan *Hirata, Yamagata was a town located in ...

, 2000is named after him. * The rainbowfish ''Chilatherina alleni'' is "named in honour of Gerald R. Allen, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to ichthyology and his deep commitment to the study and preservation of the aquatic fauna of New Guinea." - Adrian R. Tappin

Taxon described by him

*See :Taxa named by Gerald R. Allen

References

External links

List of Gerald R. Allen books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Gerald R. Australian ichthyologists 1942 births Living people Scientists from Los Angeles University of Hawaiʻi alumni American emigrants to Australia Academics from Los Angeles