Dmitrii Nikolaevich Taliev (28 May 1908 – 2 July 1952) was a Soviet Russian

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 ...

and

limnologist Limnology ( ; ) is the study of inland aquatic ecosystems. It includes aspects of the biological, chemical, physical, and geological characteristics of fresh and saline, natural and man-made bodies of water. This includes the study of lakes, ...

, notable for his work on the

Lake Baikal Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...

Notable Dates

Source: (includes list of publications and short biography) * 1930 - Senior Assistant, Pacific Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography * 1932 - Began his work at the Baikal Limnological Research Station of the

Academy of Sciences of the USSR The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991. It united the country's leading scientists and was subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (u ...

(now Limnological Institute of the Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences) ** 1932-death, except 1939–41, - Senior Researcher, often executing duties of Deputy

Director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. ** 1944-47 -

* 1939-41 - Head of the laboratory of Experimental Systematics at the Zoological Institute of the

Biography

Source: Taliev was born in 1908. His mother was a teacher at an elementary school and his father, an electrical engineer. He developed an interest in zoology early in life. At high school he was a member of the young naturalist club, and later a laboratory assistant at the Sverdlovsk Regional Museum. After finishing school in Sverdlovsk in 1925 he went to the Leningrad Veterinary Institute (now St. Petersburg State Academy of Veterinary Medicine),(trans.) Russian: "получил командировку в Ленинградский ветеринарный институт" implies that he received a "business" trip to the Institute. Difficult to translate, possibly to do with the Communist regime. later transferring to the Physics-Mathematics faculty of the Leningrad State University in 1926. Whilst at University, he continued bird-watching, studying the birds of the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.

, for which he received a special research trip in the summer of 1927. He also studied the

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

of the

stingray Stingrays are a group of sea Batoidea, rays, a type of cartilaginous fish. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae (deepwate ...

brain, in connection with which he spent the summer of 1928 in the Sevastopol Biological Research Station, where he familiarised himself with marine life. In the summer of 1929 he participated in studies of

Atlantic cod The Atlantic cod (: cod; ''Gadus morhua'') is a fish of the family Gadidae, widely consumed by humans. It is also commercially known as '' cod'' or ''codling''.White Sea herring as an assistant at the Department of Experimental Ichthyology. These activities resulted in him writing three papers (on causes of albinism in birds (1927), morphology of the stingray brain (1928) and systematisation of Atlantic cod (1931)), two of which were published whilst Taliev was still studying at University. In the beginning of 1932, Taliev began working at the Baikal Limnological Research Station as a senior researcher. He later became the Station's Director (1955-1947) and worked there until his death in 1952 except for a brief period between 1939 and 1941, when he worked at the Zoological Institute of the

. At the Baikal Research Station Taliev was the first Russian to study the genesis of

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

fauna with the help of reactions of the

immune system The immune system is a network of biological systems that protects an organism from diseases. It detects and responds to a wide variety of pathogens, from viruses to bacteria, as well as Tumor immunology, cancer cells, Parasitic worm, parasitic ...

. He also used this method when systematising Baikal's

cottidae The Cottidae are a family of fish in the superfamily Cottoidea, the sculpins. It is the largest sculpin family, with about 275 species in 70 genera.Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2012)Life in the flow lane: differences in pectoral fin morphology ...

and for determining the distribution of

commercial fish Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

. By and large most work done in this area was carried out when Taliev was Head of the laboratory of Experimental Systematics at the Zoological Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. At the same time, Taliev begun his major study of fish belonging to the suborder

cottoidei Cottoidei is a suborder of ray-finned fishes which, according to the 5th edition of ''Fishes of the World'', is placed within the order Scorpaeniformes, alongside the scorpionfishes, flatheads, eelpouts, sticklebacks and related fishes. Taxon ...

(

sculpin A sculpin is a type of fish that belongs to the superfamily Cottoidea in the order Perciformes.Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2012)Life in the flow lane: differences in pectoral fin morphology suggest transitions in station-holding demand acros ...

s), including in-depth morphology, systematisation and study of evolution. He described a number of new

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

and continued observations between 1933 and 1938, with the aim of discovering and implementing economic uses for this fish, in which he eventually succeeded. Taliev was married to Aleksanda Yakovlevna Bazikalova, who also worked at the Limnological Research Station on systematisation of

Amphipoda Amphipoda () is an order (biology), order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods () range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 10,700 amphip ...

. Taliev published 55 scientific papers, mostly in the "Works of the Baikal Limnological Research Station."(trans.) Russian: "Труды Байкальской Лимнологической Станции" = "Trudy Baikal'skoi limnologischeskoi stantsii" His major work on the morphology and ecology of the sculpins in Lake Baikal was published posthumously.

Selected publications

* * A.Y. Bazikalova, T.N. Kalinnikova, V.S. Mikhin and D.N. Taliev, 1937. ''Materials to the knowledge of Baikal sculpins''. Travaux de la Station Limnologique du Lac Baikal 7:109-212. * * * *

Cottidae The Cottidae are a family of fish in the superfamily Cottoidea, the sculpins. It is the largest sculpin family, with about 275 species in 70 genera.Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2012)Life in the flow lane: differences in pectoral fin morphology ...

; published posthumously.

List of taxa first scientifically described by D.N. Taliev

Cottocomephoridae

* Cottocomephorus alexandrae ( Cottocomephorus grewingki subsp. alexandrae), Taliev, 1935

Abyssocottidae

* Procottus gurwicii, Taliev, 1946 * Procottus major, Taliev, 1949 *

Asprocottus abyssalis ''Asprocottus abyssalis''is a species of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. These sculpins are endemic to Lake Baikal in Russia. It was described by Dmitrii Nikolaevich Taliev in 1955, originally as a subsp ...

, Taliev, 1955 * Abyssocottus elochini, Taliev, 1955

References and Bibliography

Footnotes

External links

Limnological Institute of the Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taliev, Dmitrii 1908 births 1952 deaths Soviet ichthyologists People from Lysva