Henry Bryant Bigelow (October 3, 1879 – December 11, 1967) was an American

oceanographer Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamic ...

and marine biologist. He is the grandson of Henry Bryant who was an American

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and naturalist. After graduating from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1901, he began working with famed ichthyologist

Alexander Agassiz Alexander Emmanuel Rodolphe Agassiz (December 17, 1835March 27, 1910), son of Louis Agassiz and stepson of Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, was an American scientist and engineer. Biography Agassiz was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland and immigrated to ...

. Bigelow accompanied Agassiz on several major marine science expeditions including one aboard the ''

Albatross Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pac ...

'' in 1907. He began working at the

Museum of Comparative Zoology A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

in 1905 and joined Harvard's faculty in 1906 where he worked for 62 years. In 1911, Bigelow was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

. He helped found the

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, acronym pronounced ) is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering. Established in 1930 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, i ...

in 1930 and was its founding director. During his life he published more than one hundred papers and several books. He was a world-renowned expert on

coelenterate Radiata or Radiates is a historical taxonomic rank that was used to classify animals with radially symmetric body plans. The term Radiata is no longer accepted, as it united several different groupings of animals that do not form a monophylet ...

s and

elasmobranch Elasmobranchii () is a subclass of Chondrichthyes or cartilaginous fish, including sharks (superorder Selachii), rays, skates, and sawfish (superorder Batoidea). Members of this subclass are characterised by having five to seven pairs of g ...

s. In 1948 Bigelow was awarded the

Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal The Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "for meritorious work in zoology or paleontology study published in a three- to five-year period." Named after Daniel Giraud Elliot, it was first awarded in 1917. L ...

from the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...

Honors

The Henry Bryant Bigelow Medal in Oceanography is awarded by the

to honor "those who make significant inquiries into the phenomena of the sea". Bigelow was the first recipient of the medal in 1960. He was honored by the naming of the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditi ...

research vessel A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicate ...

NOAAS ''Henry B. Bigelow'' (R 225).

Legacy

Bigelow's ''Fishes of the Gulf of Maine'' (with William C. Schroeder) continues to be a useful reference today.

Descriptions

Bigelow described numerous new species to science, 110 of which are recognized today according to the World Register of Marine Species. See :Taxa named by Henry Bryant Bigelow

Species named for Bigelow

Some 26 species and two genera ('' Bigelowina'', stomatopods in family

Nannosquillidae Nannosquillidae is a family of stomatopod Mantis shrimp, or stomatopods, are carnivorous marine crustaceans of the order Stomatopoda (). Stomatopods branched off from other members of the class Malacostraca around 340 million years ago. Ma ...

, and '' Bigelowiella'',

protist A protist () is any eukaryotic organism (that is, an organism whose cells contain a cell nucleus) that is not an animal, plant, or fungus. While it is likely that protists share a common ancestor (the last eukaryotic common ancestor), the e ...

s in family

Chlorarachniophyte The chlorarachniophytes are a small group of exclusively marine algae widely distributed in tropical and temperate waters. They are typically mixotrophic, ingesting bacteria and smaller protists as well as conducting photosynthesis. Normally t ...

) are named after him, including Bigelow's ray, '' Rajella bigelowi'' , and '' Etmopterus bigelowi'', a lantern shark.

References

External links

Bigelow Laboratory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bigelow, Henry Bryant American marine biologists American taxonomists 1879 births 1967 deaths American ichthyologists Cnidariologists American oceanographers Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Harvard University alumni Harvard University faculty 20th-century American zoologists