Jean Vacelet is a French marine biologist who specialises in the underwater fauna of the Mediterranean.
After earning his licence at the
Faculté des Sciences de Marseille and learning to dive in 1954, he specialised in the study of sponges at the
Marine station of Endoume
The Marine Station of Endoume is an oceanography and marine biology research institute located in Marseille (France). It was founded in 1882 by Antoine-Fortuné Marion (1846–1900). It is today one of the sites for the joint research unit IMBE ...
, and there he has stayed faithful to both sponges and place for more than half a century. His research has included all aspects of sponges: taxonomy, habitat, biology, anatomy, their bacterial associations, and their place in the evolution of multi-celled animals. He has studied them not only in the Mediterranean but in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. Exploration of underwater grottoes, together with
Jacques Laborel and Jo Hamelin, revealed the existence of sponges dating from very ancient geological periods and the unexpected existence of carnivorous sponges,
and surprisingly, the grottoes in some ways mimicked life at much greater depths.
He earned one doctorate in 1958 and his doctorat ès-sciences, under Professor Claude Lévi
in 1964.
He, together with other colleagues, has written definitive works on
Porifera (sponges),
in addition to his many specific works on carnivorous sponges. And again with many colleagues, is responsible for the World Porifera Database (accessed via the
World Register of Marine Species
The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive list of names of marine organisms.
Content
The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scientific specialis ...
. (See e.g
Acanthella dendyi
He continues his researches on sponges
at Endoume as emeritus professor.
Gallery
Carnivorous sponge diversity.png, Carnivorous sponge diversity
Calcarea diversity.png, Calcarea diversity
Porifera morphology and internal structure.png, Porifera morphology
Hexactinellida diversity.png, Hexactinellida diversity
(Source)
Awards
* Médaille Prince Albert 1er de Monaco( Prix Mansley-Bendall), 1991.
* Prix Savigny (Académie des Sciences de Paris), 1994.
* Prix des Sciences de la Mer, Académie des Sciences. 2001
Source
See also
*
Taxa named by Jean Vacelet
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vacelet, Jean
Academic staff of Aix-Marseille University
Spongiologists
French marine biologists