Jacques Pellegrin (12 June 1873 – 12 August 1944) was a French

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

Biography

Pellegrin was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on 12 June 1873. He worked under zoologist

Léon Vaillant Léon Louis Vaillant (; 11 November 1834 – 24 November 1914) was a French zoology, zoologist. He is most famous for his work in the areas of herpetology, malacology, and ichthyology. In 1854 he graduated from the Arras College, College d'Ar ...

(chair of reptiles and fishes) at the ''

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History ( ; abbr. MNHN) is the national natural history museum of France and a of higher education part of Sorbonne University. The main museum, with four galleries, is located in Paris, France, within the Ja ...

''. From 1897, Pellegrin served as ''préparateur'' at the museum. He obtained

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

s in

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

(1899) and

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

(1904), and in 1908 was named as an assistant director. After many missions abroad, he became sub-director of the museum in 1937, and replaced

Louis Roule Louis Roule (; 20 December 1861 – 30 July 1942) was a French zoologist born in Marseille. In 1881 he obtained a degree in natural sciences at Marseille, followed by his doctorate of sciences (1884) at Paris with a thesis on ascidians of coasta ...

(1861–1942) as the chairperson of

herpetology Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

and

ichthyology 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 ...

. He published over 600 scientific books and articles and scientifically described around 350 new

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

. He named a number of fishes from the family

Cichlidae Cichlids () are a large, diverse, and widespread family of percomorph fish in the family Cichlidae, order Cichliformes. At least 1,760 species have been scientifically described, making it one of the largest vertebrate families, with on ...

, such as the genera ''

Astatoreochromis ''Astatoreochromis'' is a small genus of haplochromine cichlids endemic to riverine habitats in East Africa. '' Tilapia bemini'', usually placed in the tilapiines, may be rather close to this genus. However, extensive hybridization capabilities ...

'', ''

Astatotilapia ''Astatotilapia'' is a genus of small freshwater fish in the family Cichlidae found in Eastern and Northern Africa, with a single species, ''A. flaviijosephi'', in Western Asia (the only non-African haplochromine). Many species have been moved be ...

'', ''

Boulengerochromis The giant cichlid (''Boulengerochromis microlepis''), also known as the emperor cichlid, is a species of fish in the family Cichlidae, endemic to Lake Tanganyika in Africa.Lepidiolamprologus ''Lepidiolamprologus'' is a small genus of cichlids endemic to Lake Tanganyika in eastern Africa. It is closely related to ''Altolamprologus.'' and there is the possibility that a revision of the genus could see more species added. The placement ...

'', ''

Nanochromis ''Nanochromis'' is a genus of small cichlids endemic to the Congo River Basin in Central Africa. Species The genus '' Congochromis'' was split from ''Nanochromis'' in 2007. The following species remain in ''Nanochromis'': * '' Nanochromis conso ...

'' and ''

Ophthalmotilapia ''Ophthalmotilapia'' is a small genus of four cichlid species endemic to Lake Tanganyika in East Africa. Species There are currently four recognized species in this genus: * '' Ophthalmotilapia boops'' ( Boulenger, 1901) * '' Ophthalmotilapia ...

''. Pellegrin fought with the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was killed by a

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

soldier using a

MG 42 The MG 42 (shortened from German: ''Maschinengewehr 42'', or "machine gun 42") is a German recoil-operated air-cooled general-purpose machine gun used extensively by the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS during the second half of World War II. Enter ...

while in his hiding spot.

Taxa described by him

*See :Taxa named by Jacques Pellegrin

Taxa named in his honor

He has the following species named in his honor: * The Clingfish ''

Apletodon pellegrini ''Apletodon pellegrini'', the chubby clingfish, is a species of clingfish of the family Gobiesocidae. The species is found in the Eastern Atlantic, from Madeira, Cape Verde, Canary Islands, Annobon Islands, mainland shore from Cape Blanco south t ...

'' * ''Enteromius pellegrini'' (

Pellegrin's barb The Pellegrin's barb (''Enteromius pellegrini'') is a species of cyprinid fish. It is found in Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. Its natural habitat is rivers. It is not considered a threatened species by the IUCN. The scientific name honou ...

) * The Pike Cichlid ''

Crenicichla pellegrini ''Saxatilia pellegrini'' is a species of cichlid native to South America. It is found in the Amazon River basin and in the Aripuanã River basin. This species reaches a length of . The fish is named in honor of French ichthyologist Jacques Pelle ...

'' Ploeg, 1991 * The Yellow hump eartheater cichlid '' Geophagus pellegrini'' Regan, 1912 * '' Nemacheilus pellegrini'' *'' Petrocephalus pellegrini'', is a

electric fish An electric fish is any fish that can Bioelectrogenesis, generate electric fields, whether to sense things around them, for defence, or to stun prey. Most fish able to produce shocks are also electroreceptive, meaning that they can sense electric ...

in the family

Mormyridae The Mormyridae, sometimes called "elephantfish" (more properly freshwater elephantfish), are a superfamily of weakly electric fish in the order Osteoglossiformes native to Africa. It is by far the largest family in the order, with around 200 sp ...

, found the coastal basins between

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

and

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...

, part of the

Sassandra River The Sassandra River is a river of western Ivory Coast in West Africa. It is formed by the confluence of the Tienba River, which originates in the highlands of north-western Ivory Coast, and the Gouan River (also known as the Bafing Sud River), ...

. *''

Luciosoma pellegrinii ''Luciosoma pellegrinii'' is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Danionidae, the danios or danionins. This fish is endemic to northeastern and eastern Borneo. Etymology The fish is named in honor of French zoologist J ...

Popta Canna Maria Louise Popta (31 May 1860 – 13 June 1929)L.B. Holthuis, Biography i1820-1958, Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie page 82 (in Dutch). was a Dutch biologist. Born in Breda, Popta was one of the first women to enrol as a student at ...

, 1905

Selected writings

* ''Contribution à l'étude anatomique, biologique et taxinomique des poissons de la famille des cichlidés'', 1903 – Contribution to the anatomical, biological and taxonomic study of fish of the family

. * ''Les Poissons du bassin du Tchad'', 1912 – Fish of the

Lake Chad Lake Chad (, Kanuri language, Kanuri: ''Sádǝ'', ) is an endorheic freshwater lake located at the junction of four countries: Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, in western and central Africa respectively, with a catchment area in excess of . ...

basin. * ''Les poissons des eaux douces de l'Afrique du Nord Française : Maroc, Algérie, Tunisie, Sahara'', 1921 – Freshwater fish of

French North Africa French North Africa (, sometimes abbreviated to ANF) is a term often applied to the three territories that were controlled by France in the North African Maghreb during the colonial era, namely Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. In contrast to French ...

;

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

and the

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

. * ''Les poissons des eaux douces de l'Afrique occidentale : du Sénégal au Niger'', 1923 – Freshwater fish of western Africa;

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

and

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

. * ''Poissons du Chiloango et du Congo'', 1928 – Fish from the Chiloango and the Congo. * ''Les poissons des eaux douces d'Asie-Mineure'', 1928 – Freshwater fish of

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

* ''Les poissons des eaux douces de Madagascar et des îles voisines (Comores, Seychelles, Mascareignes)'', 1933 – Freshwater fish of

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

and neighboring islands (

Comoros The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is an archipelagic country made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Moroni, ...

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

Mascarenes The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. Their na ...

).WorldCat Identities
(publications)

Sources

* This article incorporates text from the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia () is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on 16 March 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia edition (after the English Wikipedia). It has articles, ma ...

; sources listed as "Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin" & "Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pellegrin, Jacques 1873 births 1944 deaths French zoologists French taxonomists French herpetologists French ichthyologists French science writers 20th-century French non-fiction writers 20th-century French zoologists 20th-century French male writers National Museum of Natural History (France) people French male non-fiction writers Scientists from Paris French civilians killed in World War II French Resistance members Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany

Biography

Taxa described by him

Taxa named in his honor

Selected writings

See also

Sources

References