Lee Hong Susan Lim (February 14, 1952 – August 2, 2014), more commonly known as Susan Lim, was a Malaysian
parasitologist
Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question but by their way of life. This means it ...
who specialised on the
Monogenea
Monogeneans are a group of ectoparasitic flatworms commonly found on the skin, gills, or fins of fish. They have a direct lifecycle and do not require an intermediate host. Adults are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female repr ...
, a class of parasitic
flatworm
The flatworms, flat worms, Platyhelminthes, or platyhelminths (from the Greek πλατύ, ''platy'', meaning "flat" and ἕλμινς (root: ἑλμινθ-), ''helminth-'', meaning "worm") are a phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, unsegmen ...
s which are important
ectoparasite
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...
s of fishes. She was the first and only Malaysian commissioner elected to the
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature
The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries.
Orga ...
. Her research was mainly in the fields of
taxonomy
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
and faunistics, although in later years, she became involved in a wide range of parasitological disciplines.
[ ]
She has been considered the leading monogenean specialist in
South-East Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...
.
By describing more than 100 new
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 ...
and reassigning more than 100 others, she became the sixth most productive
monogenea
Monogeneans are a group of ectoparasitic flatworms commonly found on the skin, gills, or fins of fish. They have a direct lifecycle and do not require an intermediate host. Adults are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female repr ...
n worker (and foremost female worker) of all time.
[ She is also noted for describing an entirely new attachment mechanism in the form of net-like structures formed by ]secretions 440px
Secretion is the movement of material from one point to another, such as a secreted chemical substance from a cell or gland. In contrast, excretion is the removal of certain substances or waste products from a cell or organism. The classical ...
from the haptor
The haptor is the attachment organ of the monogeneans, a group of parasitic Platyhelminthes.
The haptor is sometimes called opisthaptor (from ''opistho-'': behind) to emphasize that it is located in the posterior part of the body, and to differe ...
of some of her worms.
Susan Lim died from cancer in Petaling Jaya
)
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, Selangor, Malaysia, on August 2, 2014, after a long illness.
Education and career
Susan Lim was born at Seremban
Seremban (Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Soghomban'', ''Somban''; Jawi: ) is a city in the Seremban District and the capital of the state of Negeri Sembilan in Peninsular Malaysia. The city's administration is run by the Seremban City Council. Se ...
in the State of Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, on February 14, 1952. She received her early education in the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, Seremban, and completed her 6th Form studies at St Pauls Institution, Seremban. In 1971 she entered the University of Malaya
The University of Malaya ( ms, Universiti Malaya, UM; abbreviated as UM or informally the Malayan University) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian institution of highe ...
in Kuala Lumpur
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to read Zoology
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, an ...
. She remained at the same university for her MSc and PhD degrees, funding her studies as a university tutor. Her PhD,[Lim, L. H. S. 1987. Distribution and Diversity of Monogeneans in Freshwater Fishes of Peninsular Malaysia. PhD Thesis, University of Malaysia, December 1987.] under the supervision of Prof. Jose I. Furtado, was on monogenea
Monogeneans are a group of ectoparasitic flatworms commonly found on the skin, gills, or fins of fish. They have a direct lifecycle and do not require an intermediate host. Adults are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female repr ...
n parasites of freshwater fishes and was completed in 1987. In 1989, she was awarded a lectureship
Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct res ...
in the same department and in 2003 was promoted to a full 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 ...
in the Institute of Biological Sciences. Susan Lim had numerous postgraduate
Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree.
The organization and stru ...
students and strong international collaborations with specialists in her field.[
]
Awards and honours
* Full Professorship, University of Malaya
The University of Malaya ( ms, Universiti Malaya, UM; abbreviated as UM or informally the Malayan University) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian institution of highe ...
, 2003 [
* Commissioner of the ]International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature
The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries.
Orga ...
, 2006–2014 (the only Malaysian ever elected)[
* Life-membership of the Malaysian Society of Parasitology & Tropical Medicine, 2009.
]
Personal life
Susan Lim married George Liew, a botanist, in 1979 and had two children.[
]
Eponymous taxa
The two monogenea
Monogeneans are a group of ectoparasitic flatworms commonly found on the skin, gills, or fins of fish. They have a direct lifecycle and do not require an intermediate host. Adults are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female repr ...
n 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 ...
'' Susanlimae'' Boeger, Pariselle & Patella, 2015 and ''Susanlimocotyle'' Soares, Domingues & Adriano, 2021 were named by their respective authors to "acknowledge the fact that Dr. Lim was greatly responsible for most of our knowledge of the diversity of Monogenea from Asian Siluriformes."
[ ]
[ ]
The following species of monogenea
Monogeneans are a group of ectoparasitic flatworms commonly found on the skin, gills, or fins of fish. They have a direct lifecycle and do not require an intermediate host. Adults are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female repr ...
ns were named in her honour:
*''Calydiscoides
''Calydiscoides'' is a genus of monopisthocotylean monogeneans, included in the family Diplectanidae.
The genus currently includes 16 species, which are all parasitic on the gills of marine fish of the family Lethrinidae and Nemipteridae. All sp ...
limae'' Justine & Brena, 2009
*''Cornudiscoides susanae'' Agrawal & Vishwakarma, 1996
*'' Dactylogyrus limae'' Timofeeva, Gerasev & Gibson, 1996
*'' Dactylogyrus limleehongae'' Gusev, 1985
* ''Haliotrema susanae'' Soo, 2019
See also
* Timeline of women in science
This is a timeline of women in science, spanning from ancient history up to the 21st century. While the timeline primarily focuses on women involved with natural sciences such as astronomy, biology, chemistry and physics, it also includes women f ...
References
External links
List of taxonomic papers of Susan Lim in ZooBank (very incomplete)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Susan
1952 births
2014 deaths
Malaysian biologists
University of Malaya faculty
University of Malaya alumni
People from Negeri Sembilan
Malaysian women scientists
Malaysian parasitologists
Women parasitologists
20th-century women scientists