Pieter Bleeker (10 July 1819 – 24 January 1878) was a Dutch medical doctor,

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 ...

, and herpetologist. He was famous for the ''Atlas Ichthyologique des Indes Orientales Néêrlandaises'', his monumental work on the

fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...

es of

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

published between 1862 and 1877.

Life and work

Bleeker was born on 10 July 1819 in Zaandam. He was employed as a medical officer in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army from 1842 to 1860, (in French). stationed in the Dutch East Indies (now

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

). During that time, he did most of his ichthyology work, besides his duties in the army. He acquired many of his specimens from local fishermen, but he also built up an extended network of contacts who would send him specimens from various government outposts throughout the islands. During his time in Indonesia, he collected well over 12,000 specimens, many of which currently reside at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration w ...

. Bleeker corresponded with

Auguste Duméril Auguste Henri André Duméril (30 November 1812 – 12 November 1870) was a French zoologist. His father, André Marie Constant Duméril (1774-1860), was also a zoologist. In 1869 he was elected as a member of the Académie des sciences. Duméril ...

of Paris. His work in ichthyology and tropical medicine was recognised by two doctorates honoris causa (Leyden University, 1846; Utrecht University, 1849). After his return to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 1860, he started publishing the ''Atlas Ichthyologique des Indes Orientales Néêrlandaises'', a comprehensive account of his studies done in Indonesia, featuring over 1,500 illustrations. It was published in 36 volumes between 1862 and his death in 1878. Between 1977 and 1983, the Smithsonian republished the work in 10 volumes. Bleeker published more than 500 papers on ichthyology, describing 511 new genera and 1,925 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 ...

. He also worked in herpetology, describing at least 14 species of reptiles, most of them described in ''Reptilien van Agam''.Bleeker P (1860)
''Reptilien van Agam''
''Natuurkundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indie, Batavia'' 20: 325-329. (in Dutch). In 1855, he became correspondent of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, department Natuurkunde (then Natural Sciences), and in 1862 a member. In 1856 he was elected correspondent for the

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loc ...

in Paris. In January 1864 he received a French knighthood of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

. He was president of the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies. Bleeker died on 24 January 1878 in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

. File:Pieter Bleeker.gif Pieter Bleeker - Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences.jpg Pieter-Bleeker-1819-1878.jpg

Taxon named in his honor

Fish named after him include: *''

Osteochilus bleekeri ''Osteochilus bleekeri'' is a species of cyprinid fish endemic to Borneo and Sumatra. Etymology Named in honor of Dutch medical doctor and ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker Pieter Bleeker (10 July 1819 – 24 January 1878) was a Dutch medical do ...

'' is a species of

cyprinid Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest ...

fish

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and e ...

and

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. * The Stone Loach ''

Triplophysa bleekeri ''Triplophysa bleekeri'' is a species of stone loach in the genus ''Triplophysa''. It is endemic to China. It grows to TL. Having a wide distribution across the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, it lives in fast-flowing rivers from 200 to 3,000m in alti ...

'' ( Sauvage & Dabry de Thiersant, 1874) *'' Argyrops bleekeri'' Oshima, 1927

Taxon described by him

*See :Taxa named by Pieter Bleeker

Life and work

Taxon named in his honor

Taxon described by him

See also

References

Further reading