Marion Griswold Grey (1911 – 1964) was an American

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 ...

. The daughter of James and Lucy Griswold, she was born Marion Griswold in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and moved to

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...

with her family when she was nine. She studied zoology at

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

but left after two years of study. In 1933, she married Arthur L. Grey and moved to

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; the couple had three children, including linguist

Sarah Thomason Sarah Grey Thomason (known as "Sally") is an American scholar of linguistics. She is a prolific contributor to academic journals and publications specializing in the field of linguistics, as well as a guest lecturer at different universities arou ...

. After she brought a

pipefish Pipefishes or pipe-fishes (Syngnathinae) are a subfamily of small fishes, which, together with the seahorses and seadragons (''Phycodurus'' and ''Phyllopteryx''), form the family Syngnathidae. Description Pipefish look like straight-bodied seah ...

to the

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...

for identification, she was encouraged by Alfred Weed to volunteer at the museum. She gained additional knowledge from informal training while at the museum. From 1943 to 1946, she was put in charge of the Fish Division at the museum on an unpaid basis while curator Loren P. Woods served in the Navy 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 ...

. She continued to be an associate in the Division of Fishes at the museum until her death in 1964. In 1948, she was a member of the museum's expedition to

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. She learned Russian so that she could read literature on ichthyology in that language, also translating papers for colleagues. In 1953, she presented at paper at the International Congress of Zoology in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. Grey published 21 papers, as well as contributing a section on the family

Gonostomatidae The Gonostomatidae are a family of mesopelagic marine fish, commonly named bristlemouths, lightfishes, or anglemouths. It is a relatively small family, containing only eight known genera and 32 species. However, bristlemouths make up for their l ...

to ''Fishes of the Western North Atlantic'', published in 1964. She died following a series of

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

s at the age of 52. Her name appears as author citation for several

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 species of fish. In 1967 George C. Miller posthumously honored her contribution to the knowledge of

bathydemersal Demersal fish, also known as groundfish, live and feed on or near the bottom of seas or lakes (the demersal zone).Walrond Carl . "Coastal fish - Fish of the open sea floor"Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 2 March 2009 They occ ...

and benthic fishes in the

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

of the armored sea robin '' Peristedion greyae''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grey, Marion Griswold 1911 births 1964 deaths American ichthyologists People associated with the Field Museum of Natural History Scientists from Los Angeles 20th-century American zoologists