Gilbert Percy Whitley (original) (raw)

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British born Australian ichythyologist and zoologist

Gilbert Percy Whitley (9 June 1903 – 18 July 1975) was a British-born Australian ichthyologist and malacologist who was curator of fishes at the Australian Museum in Sydney for about 40 years.

Early life and education

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Gilbert Percy Whitley was born on 9 June 1903 at Swaythling, Southampton, England, the eldest child of Percy Nathan Whitley and Clara Minnie (née Moass).[1]

He was educated first at King Edward VI School, Southampton and then Osborne House School in Romsey, Hampshire.[1]

Whitley migrated with his family to Sydney in 1921.[1] He started working at the Australian Museum in 1922, while studying zoology at Sydney Technical College and the University of Sydney.[1]

In 1925 Whitley was formally appointed to the title of ichthyologist (later renamed curator of fishes) at the Museum, a position he held until retirement in 1964. During his term of office he doubled the size of the ichthyological collection to 37,000 specimens through many collecting expeditions.[1]

After his retirement, another eminent ichthyologist, Frank Talbot, was appointed to his position,[2] later becoming director of the museum for around 10 years.[3]

Whitley served as president of the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales during 1940–41, 1959–60, and 1973–74, and edited its publications from 1947 to 1971.[1]

He served on the councils of the Royal Australian Historical Society and the Anthropological Society of New South Wales. He was a member of the Great Barrier Reef Committee, and served as president of the Linnean Society of New South Wales from 1963 to 1964.[1]

He also had involvement with the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science.[1]

• 1934: Elected fellow, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales[1]
• 1967: Natural History Medallion, by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria[1]
• 1970: Clarke Medal, by the Royal Society of New South Wales[1]

Whitley died in Sydney on 18 July 1975.[1]

The Whitley Awards for zoological literature were named in his honour, established in 1979 by the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales[4] and continuing to this day (as of 2024).[5]

His zoological author abbreviation was "Whitley".[6]

Taxa named in his honour

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• Diaphus whitleyi, Fowler, 1934 is a species of lanternfish found in the Philippines and the Western Central Pacific Ocean.[7]
• The Bigcheek snailfish, Psednos whitleyi Stein, Chernova & Andriashev, 2001 is a species of snailfish found in the Eastern Indian Ocean.[8]
• Whitley's boxfish Ostracion whitleyi Fowler, 1931[9] is a species of boxfish found in the Eastern Central Pacific Ocean.

Taxa described by him

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• See Category:Taxa named by Gilbert Percy Whitley

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Murray, Maree; Roach, John, "Whitley, Gilbert Percy (1903–1975)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University
2. ^ "Mr. Gilbert Whitley retires from museum". Fisheries Newsletter. 23 (9). Canberra: Fisheries Branch, Department of Primary Industry (Commonwealth Government). September 1964.
3. ^ "Vale Professor Frank Talbot AM". The Australian Museum. 16 October 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
4. ^ "Whitley Awards". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
5. ^ "Whitley Awards 2024". Royal Zoological Society of NSW - Home. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
6. ^ "Australian Faunal Directory:Acentronura breviperula". biodiversity.org.au. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
7. ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (22 September 2018). "Order MYCTOPHIFORMES (Lanternfishes)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
8. ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (22 September 2018). "Order PERCIFORMES: Suborder COTTOIDEI: Infraorder COTTALES: Family LIPARIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
9. ^ Christopher Scharpf (21 August 2024). "Order TETRAODONTIFORMES: Families MOLIDAE, BALISTIDAE, MONACANTHIDAE, ARACANIDAE and OSTRACIIDAE". Christopher Scharpf. Retrieved 14 October 2024.