John Andrew Frank Garrick (24 March 1928 – 30 August 2018)
was a New Zealand
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 ...
.
Career
Garrick specialised in
elasmobranch
Elasmobranchii () is a subclass of Chondrichthyes or cartilaginous fish, including modern sharks ( division Selachii), and batomorphs (division Batomorphi, including rays, skates, and sawfish). Members of this subclass are characterised by h ...
s and published many books and articles about shark and ray biology. In 1982, he published a thorough taxonomy on sharks of the genus ''
Carcharhinus
''Carcharhinus'' is the type genus of the family (biology), family Carcharhinidae, the requiem sharks. One of 12 genera in its family, it contains over half of the species therein. It contains 35 extant and eight extinct species to date, with lik ...
'', where he identified the
smoothtooth blacktip shark as a new species. He is the species authority for several types of sharks, including the
New Zealand lanternshark
The New Zealand lanternshark (''Etmopterus baxteri'') is a shark of the family (biology), family Etmopteridae mainly found off the coast of New Zealand. It can also be found in the Southern areas of Australia and Africa, inhabiting water depths b ...
. Garrick was a zoology professor at
Victoria University of Wellington
Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...
, appointed to a personal chair in 1971.
Garrick had a primary interest in the taxonomy of sharks and rays, and carried out the first exploratory deep-sea sampling using specially adapted cone nets, baited traps, and longlines, regularly to depths greater than 2000 metres. Many new and rare species were obtained by use of these innovative techniques. He was responsible for the notable discovery of the first New Zealand specimens of orange roughy in 1957 (which subsequently formed the basis of a multimillion-dollar fishery). Garrick collected some 721 specimens in 988 lots and deposited them at
Te Papa
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa (Māori language, Māori for 'Waka huia, the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the Nation ...
.
[
]
Taxa named in his honour
Garrick discovered the first known specimens of the northern river shark
The northern river shark or New Guinea river shark (''Glyphis garricki'') is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, found in scattered tidal rivers and associated coastal waters in northern Australia and in Papua New Guinea. ...
, a species that was eventually named after him,[ (ISBN corrected) (invalid, listed in publication).] and which featured on an episode of the show ''River Monsters
''River Monsters'' is a British wildlife Documentary film, documentary television series produced for Animal Planet by Icon Films of Bristol, United Kingdom. It is hosted by Angling, angler and biologist Jeremy Wade, who travels around the gl ...
''. Garrick's catshark
Garrick's catshark (''Apristurus garricki'') is a species of shark in the family Pentanchidae, the deepwater catsharks. This species is found in the waters of New Zealand. Its natural habitat is the open seas. The new deep-water catshark, ''Apr ...
''Apristurus garricki'' was also named in his honour.
Taxa described by him
*See :Taxa named by Jack Garrick
References
External links
New Zealand Electronic Text Centre author details
1928 births
2018 deaths
New Zealand ichthyologists
New Zealand taxonomists
20th-century New Zealand zoologists
Academic staff of Victoria University of Wellington
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