Sir Frederick Stratten Russell (3 November 1897 – 5 June 1984) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

marine biologist Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many scientific classification, phyla, family (biology), families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others th ...

. Russell was born in

Bridport Bridport is a market town in Dorset, England, inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the Asker. Its origins are Saxon and it has a long history as a rope-making centre. On the coast and withi ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, and studied at

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

. 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 The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

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 Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) that are unable to propel themselves against a Ocean current, current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankt ...

. 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