Max Fernand Leon Poll (21 July 1908 in Ruisbroek – 13 March 1991 in

Uccle Uccle () or Ukkel () is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch). It is generally considered an affluent area of the city an ...

) was a Belgian

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 ...

who specialised in the Cichlidae. In the years 1946 and 1947 he organised an expedition to

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. T ...

. He has described several

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), 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 ...

of Pseudocrenilabrinae, such as ''

Lamprologus signatus ''Lamprologus signatus'' is a species of cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika where it prefers deep waters over muddy substrates. This species is a shell dweller. This species can reach a length of TL. It can also be found in the aquarium ...

'', ''

Steatocranus casuarius ''Steatocranus'' is a genus of small rheophilic cichlids mostly native to the Congo River Basin in DR Congo/Congo Brazzaville, although one species, '' S. irvinei'', is restricted to the Volta River in Ghana and Burkino Faso, and it belongs in a ...

'', ''

Neolamprologus brichardi ''Neolamprologus brichardi'' is a species of cichlid endemic to the alkaline waters of Lake Tanganyika in East Africa. It is a popular aquarium fish kept in the fishkeeping hobby, where it is known under a variety of common names including Prin ...

'', and '' Neolamprologus pulcher''. He was a member of The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium,

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...

at Université Libre de Bruxelles, and conservator at Musée Royal du Congo Belge in

Tervuren Tervuren () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Duisburg, Tervuren, Vossem and Moorsel. On January 1, 2006, Tervuren had a total population of 20,636. The total ...

. He was an honorary member of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.

Taxon named in his honor

Named after him are species and

taxa In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

such as: *The African Lanternshark '' Etmopterus polli'' Bigelow, Schroeder & S. Springer, 1953, *'' Merluccius polli'' Cadenat, 1950, *''

Pollichthys 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 ...

'' Grey, 1959, *'' Polyipnus polli'' Schultz, 1961, *The Catfish '' Microsynodontis polli'' J. G. Lambert, 1958,. *The African Catfish ''

Synodontis polli ''Synodontis polli'', known as Poll's synodontis, is a species of upside-down catfish endemic to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Zambia, and Tanzania, where it is only known from Lake Tanganyika. It was first described by Belgian ...

Gosse Gosse is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bob Gosse (born 1963), American film producer and director * Charles Gosse (1849–1885), Australian surgeon, son of William * Clarence Gosse (1912–1996), Canadian physician and Lieu ...

, 1982.''Synodontis polli''
- planetcatfish.com *'' Placidochromis polli'' ( W. E. Burgess & H. R. Axelrod, 1973) *The African Tetra''

Phenacogrammus polli ''Phenacogrammus polli'' is a species of fish in the African tetra African tetras (family Alestidae, formerly spelled Alestiidae) are a group of characiform fish exclusively found in Africa. This family contains about 18 genera and 119 species ...

'' J. G. Lambert, 1961.

Taxon described by him

*See :Taxa named by Max Poll

References

1908 births 1991 deaths Belgian ichthyologists 20th-century Belgian zoologists People from Sint-Pieters-Leeuw Free University of Brussels (1834–1969) faculty {{zoologist-stub