Rodolpho Theodor Wilhelm Gaspar von Ihering (born Taquara, 17 July 1883; died 15 September 1939) was a Brazilian zoologist and biologist, who is considered to be one of the founders of Pisciculture in Brazil.
von Ihering was the son of German zoologist Hermann von Ihering and Anna Maria Clara Belzer, and grandson of Rudolf von Jhering. He married Isabel de Azevedo, daughter of Colonel Luis Gonzaga de Azevedo, with whom he had two daughters, Maria and Dora, [1] and a son, who died at the age of four. [2] As a child he spent a lot of time in his father's laboratory and this gave him a grounding in Zoology and when he graduated from the university of University of São Paulo in 1901 with a Bachelor of Science and Letters in 1901 his father, who was Director of the Museu Paulista, appointed him as deputy director for finance of the museum that year. He published his first scientific paper in 1903 and he mainly published in the Magazine of the Paulista Museum, often on systematics. [2]
In 1911 he travelled to Europe where he spent almost a year working at the Biological Station in Naples, then at the University of Vienna, and finally at the Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris, where he worked with Eugène Louis Bouvier. [2]
In 1917 Hermann von Ihering was dismissed from his position of director of the Museu Paulista on Brazil's entry into World War I on the Allied side. In protest, Rodolpho left the museum and opened a small metalworks factory, Fábrica Santa Izabel, where he worked for the next ten years. During this period, however, he continued to be an active naturalist. In 1926 and 1927 he began to work in the Parasitology laboratory of the School of Medicine of the University of São Paulo, which had been established by the entomologist Lauro Pereira Travassos. From 1927 he concentrated his research in the field of ichthyology, describing many new species of fish. He began to work at the Biological Institute of Agricultural and Animal Defence of São Paulo, which was founded in 1927, as assistant in the Entomology and Animal Parasitology section and as head of the Zoology Section. It was dedicated to the study of the breeding biology of fish of the region of the State of São Paulo, especially of the Billings Reservoir, and of rivers in Mogi Guaçu , the Tietê and the Piracicaba. From 1931, Ihering dedicated himself exclusively to the economics and biology of fish farming. [2] Ilhering learnt the Tupi-Guarani language, so that he could understand the etymologicalical roots of the names of Brazilian animals and from this an important work was born: "Dicionário dos animais do Brasil ("Dictionary of the Animals of Brazil"), which was published by the University of Brasília in the year following Ilhering's death, 1940. [1]
From 1932 until 1937 Ihering was the head of the Technical Commission of Fisheries of the Nordeste, assisting rapid growth in the pisciculture in that region and in the world, through the development of hypophysation, a technique of artificially encouraging fish to reproduce by removing the hypophysis or pituitary gland from a fish, preparing it and then injecting the preparation into another mature fish, of either sex, to promote final maturation and spawning. [3] During this period he oversaw the establishment of fish farms in Pirassununga and Porto Alegre. [2] He died suddenly in 1939. [4]
Ihering was a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, the Society of Biology of São Paulo, the Clube Zoológico do Brasil, the Limnological Society of America and the American Fisheries Society. He was awarded an honorary doctor by the University of Giessen. [2]
Ilhering's name has been given to 23 species of the Brazilian fauna, including 3 insects, 10 fish and a reptile: [4]
The mite Periglischrus iheringi Oudemans, 1902
The spider wasp Entypus iheringi (Fox, 1899)
The ant Octostruma iheringi (Emery, 1888)
The beetle, Hoplistocerus iheringi Gounelle, 1906
The South American tarantula Grammostola iheringi (Keyserling, 1891)
The ant, Wasmannia iheringi Forel, 1908
The intertidal spider from Brazil and Argentina, Metaltella iheringi (Keyserling, 1891)
The beetle, Stenoeme iheringi Gounelle, 1909
The moth, Ormetica iheringi (Schaus, 1921)
The beetle, Cauarana iheringi (Gounelle, 1910)
The catfish Pareiorhina rudolphi (A. Miranda-Ribeiro, 1911) [5]
The catfish Cetopsorhamdia iheringi Schubart & A. L. Gomes, 1959 [6]
The genus of catfishes Iheringichthys Eigenmann & Norris, 1900 [6]
The South American bumblebee catfish Microglanis iheringi A. L. Gomes, 1946 [6]
The catfish Hypostomus iheringii (Regan, 1908) [7]
The Narrow-billed antwren Formicivora iheringi Hellmayr, 1909
The reptile is Ihering's snake, Lioheterophis iheringi Amaral, 1935 [8]
A land planarian, Choeradoplana iheringi Graff, 1899
Potamolithus iheringi Pilsbry, 1896 is a species of gastropod belonging to the family Tateidae. [9]
The freshwater ostracod, Chlamydotheca iheringi (Sars, 1901) Klie, 1931
The land snail Gastrocopta iheringi (Suter, 1900) [10] [11] [12]
The freshwater snail, Felipponea iheringi (Pilsbry, 1933)
The saltwater clam, Trinitasia iheringi (Dall, 1897)
The marine bivalve mollusc, Tellina iheringi Dall, 1908
The Land Snail, Radiodiscus iheringi (Ancey, 1899) [13]
The sea snail, Retigyra iheringi (Dautzenberg & H. Fischer, 1897) [14]
The Brazilian Society of Zoology, instituted the Rodolpho von Ihering Prize for the best zoology article, book or book chapter published in Brazil in each year. The Rodolpho von Ihering Ichthyology Research Center in Pentecoste, Ceará is named after him; while the Rodolpho von Ihering Library, remains in the collection of the Experimental Station of Biology and Fisheries of Pirassununga, in 1981. [2]
The principal published works of Ihering are:
Hermann Friedrich Albert von Ihering was a German-Brazilian zoologist. He was the oldest son of Rudolf von Jhering.
Johann Natterer was an Austrian naturalist and explorer. He was the son of royal falconer Joseph Natterer and along with his brother Joseph Natterer (1786–1852) took a keen interest in natural history. He collected natural history specimens extensively from South America and numerous species from his collections were named after him.
Britski's catfish is a tropical freshwater fish belonging to the subfamily Corydoradinae of the family Callichthyidae native to South America where it is found in the upper Paraguay River basin in Brazil. This species was formerly classified as Brochis britskii.
The long-tailed river stingray or antenna ray is a species of freshwater stingray in the family Potamotrygonidae. It is found in the Amazon basin in South America, ranging from Ecuador to Belém. It lives in the main channel of the Amazon River and lower parts of its major tributaries.
Clarias maclareni is a critically endangered species of catfish in the family Clariidae. It is endemic to Lake Barombi Mbo in western Cameroon. It is currently threatened because of pollution and sedimentation due to human activities, and potentially also by large emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the lake's bottom (compare Lake Nyos). It is known to grow to 36 centimetres (14 in) TL. Large individuals feed mainly on other fishes (especially cichlids), while smaller individuals mainly feed on insects.
Gastrocopta is a genus of minute air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the family Gastrocoptidae.
Glaphyropoma rodriguesi is a species of pencil catfish endemic to Brazil. This species grows to a length of 5.1 centimetres (2.0 in) SL.
Corumbataia britskii is a species of armored catfish endemic to Brazil. It is found in small tributaries of the Sucuriú River, upper Paraná River Basin in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. This species was found in deforested areas in moderate to fast current streams. It is associated with aquatic macrophytes or the submerged portion of marginal vegetation. In its gut contents were found filamentous blue-green algae, chlorophytes, diatoms and bark. This species grows to a length of 2.7 centimetres (1.1 in) SL.
Pareiorhina rudolphi is a species of armored catfish endemic to Brazil where it occurs in the Paraíba do Sul River near Lorena, São Paulo State, Brazil. This species grows to a length of 4.5 centimetres (1.8 in) TL.
Gastrocopta iheringi is a species of very small air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Gastrocoptidae.
The Pemecou sea catfish, also known as the flapnose sea catfish, the mud cuirass, or the gillbacker, is a species of catfish in the family Ariidae. It was described by Marcus Elieser Bloch in 1794, originally under the genus Silurus. It inhabits marine, brackish and freshwaters in Brazil, Guyana, French Guiana, Colombia, Suriname, Venezuela, and Trinidad and Tobago. It dwells at a depth range of 1 to 5 m. It reaches a maximum total length of 94.2 cm (37.1 in), while males more commonly reach a TL of 30 cm (12 in) and females reach a TL of 62.5 cm (24.6 in). It reaches a maximum weight of 1.5 kg (3.3 lb).
Acestrorhynchus britskii is a species of fish in the family Acestrorhynchidae. It was described by Naércio Aquino de Menezes in 1969. It inhabits the São Francisco river in Brazil. It reaches a maximum standard length of 16.5 cm (6.5 in).
Microglanis iheringi is a species of South American catfish described by Alcides Lourenço Gomes in 1945. The species belongs to the genus Microglanis, a group of catfishes that are native to South America and which are distributed widely throughout the region. M. iheringi is endemic to the Orinoco river basin and populations are present in parts of Colombia and Venezuela. One estimate places the total population at more than 10,000 individuals.
Myloplus zorroi is a medium to large omnivorous fish of the family Serrasalmidae from Brazil.
Acnodon senai is a species of serrasalmids found in South America. It is found in the Jari River basin in Brazil. This species reaches a length of 13.2 cm (5.2 in).
Aphanotorulus gomesi is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the Jaguaribe River basin. The species reaches 14.3 cm SL. It is thought to be a facultative air-breather.
Hypostomus iheringii is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it is occurs in the Paraná River drainage basin, being known from the Tietê River basin as well as the Corumbá River, where it is syntopic with Hypostomus ancistroides, H. denticulatus, H. heraldoi, H. margaritifer, and H. regani. The species reaches 11.6 cm in standard length and is believed to be a facultative air-breather.
Pierre Brichard was a Belgian explorer and collector-exporter of African aquarium fishes, especially those of Lake Tanganyika.
Cetopsorhamdia iheringi is a species of three-barbeled catfishes native to the upper reaches of the Paraná and São Francisco River basins in Brazil. This species reaches a length of 11.1 cm (4.4 in).
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