John Edward McCosker is an American

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 as has been part of expeditions to many countries such as Antarctic, Australia, and the Galapagos. After extensive study and ten expeditions he is one of the foremost experts on the Galapagos. He has been featured in various different television documentaries as well as working with filmmakers and other documentary programs off screen. McCosker earned his BA degree from the

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is ...

(Los Angeles) in 1967. He attended the

Scripps Institution of Oceanography Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) is the center for oceanography and Earth science at the University of California, San Diego. Its main campus is located in La Jolla, with additional facilities in Point Loma. Founded in 1903 and incorpo ...

in 1973 where McCosker gained his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

degree. Currently he is a senior scientist at the

California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, that is among the largest List of natural history museums, museums of natural history in the world, housing over ...

based in San Francisco. He joined the academy in 1973 as superintendent within the Steinhart Aquarium. Between 1976 and 1994 he was the director. From 1988 to 1989, and again in 1995, he was the Interim Executive Director for the Academy. The generic name of the

blenny Blennies (from the Greek and , mucus, slime) are a diverse clade of ray-finned fish in the suborder Blennioidei of the percomorph order Blenniiformes. They inhabit marine, brackish, and occasionally freshwater habitats, and generally share sim ...

Mccoskerichthys sandae ''Mccoskerichthys sandae'', the tufted blenny, is a species of chaenopsid blenny, found around Costa Rica and Panama, in the eastern central Pacific ocean. It can reach a maximum length of TL. This species feeds primarily on small crustaceans ...

'' honours McCosker, because he discovered it and assisted in the collection of the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

while its

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

honours his then wife, Sandra.

Filmography

Dr. McCosker also appeared on The Tonight Show, starring Johnny Carson on July 12, 1984. Other guests on the episode were Miss Piggy and Howie Mandel.

Taxon described by him

*See :Taxa named by John E. McCosker

Taxon named in his honor

*The McCosker's worm eel,Common names of ''Neenchelys mccoskeri''
at www.fishbase.org. ''Neenchelys mccoskeri'' Y. Hibino, H. C. Ho &

Seishi Kimura Seishi (written: 聖史, 正士, 正史 or 誠志) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: * (born 1945), Japanese jurist * (1902–1974), Japanese physicist * (born 1974), Japanese manga artist * (1902–1981), J ...

, 2012 is an

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 families, 164 genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

in the family

Ophichthidae Ophichthidae is a family (biology), family of fish in the order (biology), order Anguilliformes, commonly known as the snake eels. The term "Ophichthidae" comes from Greek language, Greek ''ophis'' ("serpent") and ''ichthys'' ("fish"). Snake eels ...

(worm/snake eels).''Neenchelys mccoskeri''
at www.fishbase.org.

References

*http://www.calacademy.org/explore-science/john-mccosker *http://www.mnh.si.edu/expeditions/galapagos/davem.htm
The New York Times Movies

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCosker, John E. American oceanographers American ichthyologists Living people People associated with the California Academy of Sciences Occidental College alumni Scientists from California 21st-century American scientists Year of birth missing (living people)