Max Fernand Leon Poll (21 July 1908 in Ruisbroek – 13 March 1991 in

Uccle Uccle () or Ukkel () is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch). It is generally considered an affluent area of the city an ...

) was a Belgian

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 O ...

who specialised in the

Cichlidae Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses ( Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted this ...

. In the years 1946 and 1947 he organised an expedition to

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. T ...

. He has described several

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

of Pseudocrenilabrinae, such as '' Lamprologus signatus'', ''

Steatocranus casuarius ''Steatocranus'' is a genus of small rheophilic cichlids mostly native to the Congo River Basin in DR Congo/Congo Brazzaville, although one species, '' S. irvinei'', is restricted to the Volta River in Ghana and Burkino Faso, and it belongs i ...

'', ''

Neolamprologus brichardi ''Neolamprologus brichardi'' is a species of cichlid endemic to the alkaline waters of Lake Tanganyika in East Africa. It is a popular aquarium fish kept in the fishkeeping hobby, where it is known under a variety of common names including Prin ...

'', and ''

Neolamprologus pulcher ''Neolamprologus pulcher'' is a species of cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika where it prefers locations with plenty of sedimentation. The common name for ''N. pulcher'' is the daffodil cichlid. This species can reach a length of TL. It can a ...

''. He was a member of The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium,

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

at Université Libre de Bruxelles, and conservator at Musée Royal du Congo Belge in Tervuren. He was an honorary member of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.

Taxon named in his honor

Named after him are species and

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

such as: *The African Lanternshark '' Etmopterus polli'' Bigelow, Schroeder & S. Springer, 1953, *'' Merluccius polli'' Cadenat, 1950, *'' Pollichthys'' Grey, 1959, *'' Polyipnus polli'' Schultz, 1961, *The Catfish '' Microsynodontis polli'' J. G. Lambert, 1958,. *The African Catfish '' Synodontis polli'' Gosse, 1982.''Synodontis polli''
- planetcatfish.com *''

Placidochromis polli ''Placidochromis polli'' is a species of cichlid endemic to the southern portions of Lake Malawi where it prefers areas with muddy or sandy substrates at depths of greater than . This species can reach a length of SL. Etymology Its specific ...

'' ( W. E. Burgess & H. R. Axelrod, 1973) *The African Tetra'' Phenacogrammus polli'' J. G. Lambert, 1961.

Taxon described by him

*See :Taxa named by Max Poll

References

1908 births 1991 deaths Belgian ichthyologists 20th-century Belgian zoologists People from Sint-Pieters-Leeuw Free University of Brussels (1834–1969) faculty {{zoologist-stub