Günther Edmund Maul (May 7, 1909 – September 28, 1997) was a German

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 October ...

and taxidermist in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

. Maul came to

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

in December 1930 to work as taxidermist at Museu Municipal do Funchal, which opened to the public in 1933. He was appointed director for the museum in 1940, a post that he held to his retirement in 1979. He, however, continued his research until shortly before his death. He started two journals (''Boletim do Museu Municipal do Funchal'' in 1945 and ''Bocagiana'' in 1959) and opened the museum's aquarium to the public in 1959. He also participated in several expeditions including with the French

bathyscaphe A bathyscaphe ( or ) is a free-diving self-propelled deep-sea submersible, consisting of a crew cabin similar to a bathysphere, but suspended below a float rather than from a surface cable, as in the classic bathysphere design. The float is ...

Archimède The bathyscaphe ''Archimède'' is a deep diving research submersible of the French Navy. It used of hexane as the gasoline buoyancy of its float. It was designed by Pierre Willm and Georges Houot. In 1964, ''Archimède'' descended into " ...

'' in 1966 and organised the first multidisciplinary expedition to the

Salvage Islands The Savage Islands or Selvagens Islands ( pt, Ilhas Selvagens ; also known as the Salvage Islands) are a small Portuguese archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean, south of Madeira, and north of the Canary Islands.

in 1963. He was awarded an honorary

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' ...

from the University of Madeira in 1995.

Works

He described several species of fish *'' Himantolophus albinares'' *''

Coryphaenoides ''Coryphaenoides'' is a genus of rattails which is found in all oceans of the world. They are found in deep waters and ''C. yaquinae'', recorded to , is the only member in the family known from the hadal zone. The generic name means "similar to ...

thelestomus'' *''

Macruronus ''Macruronus'' is a genus of merluccid hakes. Most are found in southern oceans off Argentina, Chile, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, but ''M. maderensis'' (which is in need of taxonomic review) is only known from Madeira. Members of thi ...

maderensis'' *'' Rouleina maderensis'' *'' Argyripnus atlanticus''

Taxon described by him

*See :Taxa named by Günther Maul

Taxon named in his honor

Maul has at least three species and one genus of fish *'' Himantolophus mauli'' Bertelsen & Krefft, 1988 *''

Pollichthys mauli The stareye lightfish (''Pollichthys mauli'') is a species in the monotypic genus of ''Pollichthys''. They are small stomiiform fishes found in oceans throughout the world. The maximum length is 6 cm. Etymology The genus is named after the B ...

'' ( Poll, 1953) *'' Maulisia mauli'' Parr, 1960), *''

Mauligobius ''Mauligobius'' is a genus of ray-finned fish from the family Gobiidae native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean. The name of this genus honours the ichthyologist and taxidermist Günther Edmund Maul (1909-1997) of the Museu Municipal do Funchal o ...

'' *one fossil owl (''

Otus mauli The Madeiran scops owl (''Otus mauli'') is a small extinct owl that once inhabited the island of Madeira in the Macaronesian archipelago off the north-west coast of Africa in the North Atlantic Ocean. History Fossil bones of the owl were foun ...

''): "Etymology: The new fossil owl species is named after Dr. honoris causa (1995) Günther Edmund Maul (7 May 1909 Frankfurt/M.– 28 Sept 1997 Funchal)..." *and one moth (''

Acrolepiopsis mauli ''Acrolepiopsis mauli'' is a moth of the family Acrolepiidae that is endemic to Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_ ...

'')Gaedike R., Karsholt O., 2001, Contribution to the Lepidoptera fauna of the Madeira Islands. Part 2. Tineidae, Acrolepiidae, Epermeniidae. ''Beiträge zur Entomologie'' 51: 163-213. named in his honour.

References

Biographical facts are taken from: Manuel José Biscoito
GÜNTHER EDMUND MAUL (Frankfurt, 1909 – Funchal, 1997)

External links

Museu de História Natural do Funchal
in Portuguese. German ichthyologists Portuguese zoologists 1909 births 1997 deaths 20th-century German zoologists Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany {{Madeira-stub