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, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...
and
taxidermist in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
. Maul came to
Madeira
Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...
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 () 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 floa ...
''
Archimède'' in 1966 and organised the first multidisciplinary expedition to the
Salvage Islands in 1963. He was awarded an honorary
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...
from the
University of Madeira in 1995.
Works
He described several species of fish
*''
Himantolophus albinares''
*''
Coryphaenoides thelestomus''
*''
Macruronus 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''
(Poll
Poll, polled, or polling may refer to:
Forms of voting and counting
* Poll, a formal election
** Election verification exit poll, a survey taken to verify election counts
** Polling, voting to make decisions or determine opinions
** Polling pla ...
, 1953)
*''
Maulisia mauli''
Parr, 1960),
*''
Mauligobius''
*one fossil owl (''
Otus mauli'')
[: "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'')
[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
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