Ernest William Lyons Holt or E. W. L. Holt (17 October 1864 – 10 June 1922) was an English marine naturalist and biologist who specialized in ichthyology, the study of

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

. His work helped lay a scientific foundation for the fishery management in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, and together with William Spotswood Green, he strongly influenced the development of the Irish Fisheries in its early years.

Biography

Early life

Holt was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and was educated at Eton, where he won a prize in biology. After school, he decided on a career in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, enrolling at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and after completing his officer training was commissioned into the

Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (DCLI) was a Light infantry, light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1959. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, by the merger of the 32nd ( ...

. He participated in the Nile Campaign (1884–85) and then in the Third Burmese War of 1886–87. During that latter campaign, he fell sick and was invalided home. Back in civilian life, Holt began studying

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

at the

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of St. Andrews in 1888.

Ichthyological studies

Two years later, he participated as assistant-naturalist in a fishery survey on the west coast of Ireland, organized by the Royal Dublin Society. This expedition was led by William Spotswood Green, with whom Holt would work together for much of his later career. That survey made Holt's name as an ichthyologist; he published not only several papers on the eggs and the early larval stages of fish but also wrote the general report of the expedition. As a result of Green's and Holt's work, the government instituted a formal program of fishery surveys under the auspice of the newly formed Congested Districts Board in 1892. Green became the board's Chief Inspector of Fisheries, while Holt participated as a scientific advisor, although he would leave Ireland for a few years. Holt joined the Marine Biological Association (MBA) and worked until 1894 at Grimsby, where he was in charge of a newly opened research station for the

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. After a brief stint at the '' Station zoologique d'Endoume'' at

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he then worked for three years at the

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Marine Laboratory. Nevertheless, E. W. L. Holt maintained his ties with Ireland, and in 1895 he purchased a dismasted

brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Ol ...

named ''Saturn'' for the Royal Dublin Society and had it equipped as a marine biology research station. In 1899, he returned to Ireland, taking charge of the ''Saturn'' and her four small auxiliary sailing boats used for sampling. The floating laboratory was stationed in the

Connemara Connemara ( ; ) is a region on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speaking Gaeltacht, ...

district in

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

; it lay at Ballynakill in winter and was towed to Inishbofin for the summer months. In 1900, the ''Saturn'' was transferred to the new Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland. Green became Chief Inspector of its Fisheries Branch; Holt was at first scientific advisor and later, as of 1908, Fisheries Inspector. They were joined by other young biologists, among them Rowland Southern and George Philip Farrar. With the department's research and fisheries protection vessel ''Helga'' they continued their surveys of the west coast of Ireland. In 1908, the ship was replaced by a new one, the '' Helga II'', which was built to the specifications of Green and Holt. With Holt's backing, the new ship participated in the Clare Island Survey of 1909–1911. When that was completed, the ''Helga II'' returned to her regular fisheries research and protection duties under the direction of Holt.

Later life

When Green retired in 1914, Holt succeeded him as Chief Inspector. Scientific work was stopped when

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

broke out, and the administrative duties of his post did not allow Holt to continue research work of his own. After the war, the political changes in Ireland as well as Holt's failing health prevented further serious research. In May 1922, Holt became seriously ill and left

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

for London, where he died on 10 June that year of Bright's disease (an old term for glomerulonephritis, a kidney disease). In 1949, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food (MAFF) put into service a research vessel named after him.

Taxon described by him

*See :Taxa named by Ernest William Lyons Holt

Taxon named in his honor

*'' Diaphus holti'', the Small lanternfish, is a species of lanternfish found in the Atlantic and

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

s. Named after him by Åge Vedel Tåning in 1918.

References

Biographical Etymology of Marine Organisms – H
*Collins, T.: ''Oysters and antiquities: a biographical note on E.W.L. Holt,'' Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society 43, pp. 158–166; 1991. *Collins, T.: ''The ''Helga/Muirchu:'' Her Contribution to Galway Maritime History,'' Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society 54, pp. 141–167, 2002.