Gerald Stokell (20 June 1890 – 10 July 1972) was a New Zealand amateur

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 ...

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Early life

Stokell was born at Prebbleton, near

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand, on 20 June 1890 to Edmund Stokell and Jane (

Née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Pasche). He lived there for his whole life. He attended Broadfields Primary School, and was a keen trout angler.

Interest in freshwater fish

A keen angler, Stokell wrote a series of studies on trout in Lake Ellismere. Through this interest in angling, he also came across native fish species, but was unable to identify them due to a lack of published information. From 1938 onwards he began publishing papers on them, describing species and detangling the many names that had accrued. He described 10 species that are still accepted, although others turned out to be junior

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

Species described

* ''

Galaxias paucispondylus The alpine river galaxias (''Galaxias paucispondylus'') is a galaxiid of the genus ''Galaxias'', found only in mid to high elevation streams flowing from the Southern Alps of New Zealand. It grows to a length of up to 11 cm. Alpine galaxias ...

'' (1938) alpine galaxias * '' Gobiomorphus breviceps'' (1939) upland bully * '' Galaxias prognathus'' (1940) longjaw galaxias * '' Neochanna diversus'' (1949) Black mudfish * '' Galaxias vulgaris'' (1949) Canterbury galaxias * '' Galaxias anomalus'' (1959) Central Otago roundhead galaxias * '' Gobiomorphus hubbsi'' (1959) bluegill bully * ''

Galaxias divergens ''Galaxias divergens'', common name dwarf galaxias, is a galaxiid of the genus ''Galaxias'', found only in the lower North Island and upper South Island of New Zealand. It grows to a length of up to 9 cm. The single dorsal and anal fins ...

'' (1959) dwarf galaxias * '' Gobiomorphus alpinus'' (1962) Tarndale bully In 1941 Stokell's smelt, '' Stokellia anisodon'', was named after him.

Memberships

* Council of the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society * Staff of the Canterbury Museum * Secretary of the Canterbury branch of the

Royal Society of New Zealand Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

A direct man with forceful opinions, he left the Acclimatisation Society, stating:

''Their sole qualification for safe-guarding the welfare of wild creatures sthe possession of a desire to kill them.''

Death

Stokell died 10 July 1972 in Christchurch.

Works

* ''Freshwater fishes of New Zealand'', 1955 * ''Freshwater and diadromous fishes of New Zealand'', 1972

References

Notes

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stokell, Gerald 1890 births 1972 deaths New Zealand ichthyologists 20th-century New Zealand zoologists