Paul Matte (1854–1922) was a German
tropical fish expert, importer, and fish breeder, and was a pioneer in the importing and breeding of the first tropical fish species to reach Europe. He lived in
Berlin-Lankwitz
Lankwitz () is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') within the borough (''Bezirk'') of Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Berlin. Until 2001 it was part of the former borough of Steglitz.
History
The locality was first mentioned in 1239 with the name of ''Lanko ...
,
Germany.
In 1866 he imported the first
goldfish (''Carassius auratus'') to Germany from Japan, and the offspring were referred to as the "Matte-strain".
He was the first to breed the
paradise fish and
Siamese fighting fish in Germany.
In 1896 he imported ten pairs of
Siamese fighting fish (''Betta splendens'') to Germany from Moscow, from the strain bred by
Pierre Carbonnier
Pierre Carbonnier, (7 August 1828 – 8 April 1883) was a French scientist, ichthyologist, fish breeder and public Aquarium director. Member of Imperial Society of acclimatization (Société Impériale d'Acclimatation).
Biography
Pierre Carb ...
in France.
In 1897 he imported and bred the first specimens of the banded
gourami (''
Trichogaster fasciata'') to Europe.
In 1905 he imported the first
zebrafish (''Danio rerio'') to Europe.
Matte was the first to import both sexes of
swordtail (''Xiphophorus hellerii'').
The
characin
Characiformes is an order of ray-finned fish, comprising the characins and their allies. Grouped in 18 recognized families, more than 2000 different species are described, including the well-known piranha and tetras.; Buckup P.A.: "Relationshi ...
''
Hemigrammus
''Hemigrammus'' is a genus of freshwater fish in the family Characidae native to South America (including Trinidad) and commonly seen in the aquarium trade. These are medium-small tetras where the largest species reach up to around .
Species
Th ...
matei'' is named after Paul Matte, since he delivered the first specimens to the author
Carl H. Eigenmann
Carl Henry Eigenmann (March 9, 1863 – April 24, 1927) was a German-American ichthyologist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, who, along with his wife Rosa Smith Eigenmann, and his zoology students is credited with identifyin ...
, who described the species in 1918.
The ETYFish Project
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matte, Paul
German ichthyologists
1854 births
1922 deaths
People from Steglitz-Zehlendorf