Helen K. Larson is an ichthyologist who specialises in the fishes of the Indo-Pacific. In the 1960s and 1970s, she attended the

University of Guam University of Guam ( ch, Unibetsedåt Guåhan) (U.O.G.) is a public land-grant university in Mangilao, Guam. It is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and offers thirty-four degree programs at the undergraduate level a ...

to study for her Bachelor's and master's degrees and while there she also worked in the local Marine Laboratory. While there she collected and described a new species of the dwarf goby from the genus '' Eviota'', '' Eviota pellucida'', the description being published in 1976 in the journal ''

Copeia ''Ichthyology & Herpetology'' (formerly ''Copeia'') is a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research in ichthyology and herpetology that was originally named after Edward Drinker Cope, a prominent American researcher in these fiel ...

''. This was her first description of a new species. Her Masters was called ''Notes on the biology and comparative behaviour of ''Eviota zonura'' and ''Eviota smaragdus'' (Pisces:Gobiidae)''. She gained a PhD in

Zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

from the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

and her thesis was ''A revision of the gobiid fish genus ''Mugilogobius'' (Teleostei: Gobioidei), and its systematic placement''. She moved from Guam in 1974 to work with Douglass F. Hoese at the

Australian Museum The Australian Museum is a heritage-listed museum at 1 William Street, Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. It is the oldest museum in Australia,Design 5, 2016, p.1 and the fifth oldest natural history museum in the ...

in Sydney as a Technical Officer and in 1981 she took a position as Curator of Fishes at the Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory in Darwin. She held this position until she retired in 2009. Her main interests were in the fishes of the Indo-Pacific, especially the

Gobiiformes The Gobiiformes are an order of fish that includes the gobies and their relatives. The order, which was previously considered a suborder of Perciformes, is made up of about 2,211 species that are divided between seven families. Phylogenetic rel ...

and she is the author or co-author of over 120 papers. Over the course of her career she has described 72 new species and name 7 new genera. She is on the editorial board of the academic journals ''Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters'' and ''aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology''. She also reviews papers for a number of other journals. As well as gobies Larson's interests include river sharks, freshwater hardyheads, freshwater grunters, damsel fishes and mackerel emperors, and birdwatching.

Taxon described by her

*See :Taxa named by Helen K. Larson

Taxon named in her honor

*The

goby Goby is a common name for many species of small to medium sized ray-finned fish, normally with large heads and tapered bodies, which are found in marine, brackish and freshwater environments. Traditionally most of the species called gobies have b ...

genus '' Larsonella'' was named in her honour while among the species named after her are *pygmy pipehorse '' Idiotropiscis larsonae'' and the *

triplefin Threefin or triplefin blennies are blenniiforms, small percomorph marine fish of the family Tripterygiidae. Found in tropical and temperate waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, the family contains about 150 species in 30 genera. Th ...

blenny '' Enneapterygius larsonae''. *The goby '' Stiphodon larson'' R. E. Watson, 1996 is named after her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larson, Helen K. University of Queensland alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian women scientists Australian women curators Women ichthyologists Australian ichthyologists