Sir Frederick Stratten Russell (3 November 1897 – 5 June 1984) was an English marine biologist. Russell was born in Bridport, Dorset, and studied at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. From 1924 he worked for the

Marine Biological Association The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom (MBA) is a learned society with a scientific laboratory that undertakes research in marine biology. The organisation was founded in 1884 and has been based in Plymouth since the Citadel H ...

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, becoming its director in 1945. He was elected to the Royal Society in 1938, was awarded the

Linnean Medal The Linnean Medal of the Linnean Society of London was established in 1888, and is awarded annually to alternately a botanist or a zoologist or (as has been common since 1958) to one of each in the same year. The medal was of gold until 1976, and ...

in 1961, and knighted in 1965. The National Marine Biological Library at the Marine Biological Association retains much of Russell's scientific and personal papers for the period 1921-1984.Sir Frederick Stratten Russell F.R.S.
MBA Archive Collection Russell studied the life histories and distribution of plankton. He also discovered a means of distinguishing between different species of fish shortly after they have hatched. He was the author of ''The Medusae of the British Isles'' (1953–1970). He served in both World Wars, being awarded, among others, the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was the father of

W. M. S. Russell William Moy Stratton Russell (26 March 1925 – 2006), also known as Bill Russell, was a British zoologist and animal welfare worker. He was best known for writing, along with R. L. Burch (1926-1996) ''The Principles of Humane Experimental Tech ...

Taxon named in his honor

* Russell’s dragonet, ''

Callionymus russelli ''Callionymus russelli'', Russell’s dragonet, is a species of dragonet native to the Pacific waters off of Papua New Guinea. CLIFFORD RAY JOHNSON, Callionymus russelli, a new species of callionymid fish from Queensland, Australia, Zoological Jo ...

'' C. R. Johnson, 1976

References

1897 births 1984 deaths English marine biologists Fellows of the Royal Society People from Bridport Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Linnean Medallists Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France) 20th-century British zoologists {{UK-biologist-stub