Maureen Elizabeth Downey (May 1, 1921 – May 14, 2000) was an American

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

who worked for three decades at the Smithsonian

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 ...

. Known as "The Starfish Lady," she was an authority on

sea stars Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish ar ...

and other

echinoderm An echinoderm () is any member of the phylum Echinodermata (). The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, as well as the s ...

s, co-founding the International Echinoderm Conference in 1972. Among her discoveries is ''Midgardia xandaros'', the world's largest starfish.

Early life and education

Maureen Downey was born in

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 1921. She had an early fascination with animal biology, bringing insect specimens to be identified at the

. She studied at

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...

, then Duke University and the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

Friday Harbor Laboratories Friday Harbor Laboratories (FHL), is a marine biology field station of the University of Washington, located in Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, Washington, United States. Friday Harbor Labs is known for its intensive summer classes offered to c ...

Career

Downey was an international authority on echinoderms, particularly sea stars, earning her the nickname "The Starfish Lady." While she occasionally studied other groups, such as

brittle star Brittle stars, serpent stars, or ophiuroids (; ; referring to the serpent-like arms of the brittle star) are echinoderms in the class Ophiuroidea, closely related to starfish. They crawl across the sea floor using their flexible arms for locomot ...

s, her work primarily focused on sea stars. Her work with echinoderms began in the 1940s, when she worked briefly at the

Duke University Marine Laboratory The Duke University Marine Laboratory (commonly referred to as the "Duke Marine Lab") is a research facility and campus of Duke University on Piver's Island, near Beaufort and the Outer Banks, North Carolina specializing in studying marine biolog ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. She spent most of her career in her home city of Washington, first working for 10 years as a civil servant at the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

and then the

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

. In 1957, she was hired as a secretary at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. There, she worked her way into a museum technician role, returning to working with echinoderms. She was eventually promoted to museum specialist, working on the museum's collections and researching starfish. In her 30 years at the museum, she pushed to make the museum's echinoderm collection more accessible and published two comprehensive catalogs of echinoids and ophiuroids held in major collections across North America. In 1967, she co-founded the ''Echinoderm Newsletter'', and in 1972 she co-organized the first International Echinoderm Conference at the National Museum of Natural History. Downey discovered several new species of sea stars, notably the deep-water ', which was confirmed as the world's biggest starfish. In 1992, she published the book ''Starfishes of the Atlantic''. Co-written with Ailsa McGown Clark, it became a classic of the field. She retired in 1987 to

San Juan Island San Juan Island is the second-largest and most populous of the San Juan Islands in northwestern Washington, United States. It has a land area of 142.59 km2 (55.053 sq mi) and a population of 6,822 as of the 2000 census. Washington State Fe ...

, where she lived until her death in 2000 at age 79.

Publications

* 1967 - ''Astronebris tatafilius'' (Euryalae: Asteronychidae), a new genus and species of Ophiuroid from the Aleutians, with a revised key to the family Asteronychidae. ''Proceedings of The Biological Society of Washington'' 80: 41–45
BHL
* 1968 - A note on the Atlantic species of the starfish genus ''Linckia''. ''Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington'' 81: 41–44
BHL
* 1968 - Catalog of recent Echinoid type specimens in the U.S. National Museum Smithsonian Institution and the Museum of Comparative Zoology Harvard University. ''Bulletin of the United States National Museum'' 264: 1-99
BHL
* 1969 - Catalog of recent Ophiuroid type specimens in major collections in the United States. ''Bulletin of the United States National Museum'' 293: 1–239
BHL
* 1970 - Zorocallida, New Order, and ''Doraster constellatus'', New Genus and Species, with Notes on the Zoroasteridae (Echinodermata; Asteroidea). ''Smithsonian contributions to Zoology'' 64: 1-18
SI-repository
* 1970 - ''Drachmaster bullisi'' new genus and species of Ophidiasteridae (Echinodermata, Asteroidea), with a key to the Caribbean species of the family. ''Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington'' 83(6): 77–82
BHL
* 1970 - ''Marsipaster acicula'', new species (Asteroidea: Echinodermata), from the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. ''Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington'' 83(28): 309–312
BHL
* 1971 - A new species of the genus ''Solaster'' (Echinodermata: Asteroidea). ''Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington'' 84(4): 39–42
BHL
* 1971 - Two new species of the genus ''Tamaria'' (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) from the Tropical Western Atlantic. ''Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington'' 84(5): 43–50
BHL
* 1971 - ''Ampheraster alaminos'', a new species of the family Asteriidae (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) from the Gulf of Mexico. ''Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington'' 84(6): 51–54
BHL
* 1972 - ''Midgardia xandaros'' new genus, new species, a large brisingid starfish from the Gulf of Mexico. ''Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington'' 84(48): 421–426
BHL
* 1973 - Starfishes from the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. ''Smithsonian contributions to Zoology'' 126: 1–158
SI-repository
* 1975 - Asteroidea from Malpelo Island with a description of a new species of the genus ''Tamaria''. in: . The biological investigation of Malpelo Island, Colombia. ''Smithsonian contributions to Zoology'' 176: 86–90
SI-repository
* 1977 - with . On the genera ''Echinaster'' Mueller and Troschel, and ''Othilia'' Gray, and the validity of ''Verrillaster'' Downey. (Echinodermata: Asteroidea). ''Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington'' 90(4): 829–830
BHL
* 1979 - ''Pythonaster pacificus'' n.sp. a new starfish of the family Myxasteridae (Echinodermata: Asteroidea). ''Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington'' 92(1): 70–74
BHL
* 1979 - ''Hymenaster kieri'', a new species of starfish of the family Pterasteridae (Echinodermata: Asteroidea). ''Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington'' 92(4): 801–803
BHL
* 1980 - ''Floriaster maya'', new genus and species of the family Goniasteridae. ''Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington'' 93(2): 346–349
BHL
* 1981 - A new goniasterid seastar, ''Evoplosoma scorpio'' (Echinodermata: Asteroidea), from the northeastern Atlantic. ''Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington'' 94(2): 561–563
BHL
* 1982 - ''Evoplosoma virgo'', a new goniasterid starfish (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) from the Gulf of Mexico. ''Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington'' 95(4): 772–773
BHL
* 1986 - Revision of the Atlantic Brisingida (Echinodermata: Asteroidea), with description of a new genus and family. ''Smithsonian contributions to Zoology'' 435: 1-57
SI-repository
* 1992 - with Ailsa McGown Clark. Starfishes of the Atlantic.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Downey, Maureen 1921 births 2000 deaths 20th-century American zoologists Women zoologists 20th-century American women scientists American marine biologists Smithsonian Institution people George Washington University alumni Scientists from Washington, D.C. Duke University alumni University of Washington alumni