Marion Durbin Ellis (October 25, 1887December 16, 1972) was 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

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

. She is credited with conducting the most comprehensive study to date of the '' Hemigrammus'' genus of fish of which she named nineteen taxa. The taxon ''Corydoras ellisae'' and ''Hyphessobrycon ellisae'' (a.k.a. ''Hyphessobrycon sergipanus'') are named for her as are the species '' Bryconops durbinae'' and ''Bryconacidnus ellisi''.

Early life

Marion Lee Durbin was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to David Henry and Cornelia (Fitch) Durbin. She graduated high school from Anderson High School in

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. She attended

Earlham College Earlham College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana. The college was established in 1847 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and has a strong focus on Quake ...

from 1905 to 1906 and then earned her A.B. degree in 1909 from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

where she was a member of

Delta Gamma Delta Gamma (), commonly known as DG, is a North American women's fraternity. It was established in 1873 at the Lewis School for Girls in Oxford, Mississippi. It has 151 collegiate chapters and more than 200 alumnae groups. The organization's exe ...

sorority, and

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is an international non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a faculty member and graduate students in 1886 and is one of the oldest ...

honorary society. She married Max Mapes Ellis in September of that year. She earned her A.M. degree from Indiana University in 1910. During her time at IU she studied under

Carl H. Eigenmann Carl Henry Eigenmann (March 9, 1863 – April 24, 1927) was a German-American ichthyology, ichthyologist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, who, along with his wife Rosa Smith Eigenmann, and his zoology students is credited wit ...

and Charles Zeleny.

Career

In 1908, Dr. Eigenmann turned over some fish samples he had taken from British Guyana that he found very perplexing. The then-named Ms. Durbin was able to identify a new genus and twelve new species of ''Tetragonopterid Characins''. After graduating from IU, the family moved to

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

where she worked with

Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell (22 August 1866 – 26 January 1948) was an American entomologist and Systematics, systematic biologist who published nearly 4,000 papers, some of them only a few lines long. Cockerell's speciality was the insect or ...

. They made the first scientific observations of '' Claytonia rosea'' in 1913. By 1914, she was the Dean of Women at the University of Michigan Biological Station where her husband was also on staff. In 1925, she moved with her husband to Fairport, Iowa where they worked at the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries lab and studied

mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...

reproduction. In 1930, Cockerell used her as one of two examples in an article in

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

about how the scientific community needed to fix citations for women who publish work before and after a name change.

Personal

Ellis had her only child, Cornelia Grace, in October 1914. She was a member of the Indiana Academy of Science, the

Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

, and was in favor of women's

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

. She died in Los Angeles in 1972.

Publications

* 1909. A New Genus and Twelve New Species of Tetragonopterid Characins. ''Annals of the Carnegie Museum''; vol. 6: 148–183. * 1909
An Analysys of the Rate of Regeneration Throughout the Regenerative Process
''The Journal of Experimental Zoology''; vol. 7; no. 3 * 1911. On the species of ''Hasemania'', ''Hyphessobrycon'', and ''Hemigrammus'' collected by for the Carnegie Museum. ''Annals of the Carnegie Museum'' 8(1): 148–183, pls. 1–3. * 1911. The Plated Nematognaths. ''Annals of the Carnegie Museum'' 8(1): 384–413, pls. 1–3. * 1914. New bees of the genus ''Halictus'' (Hym.) from United States, Guatemala and Ecuador. In: ''Journal of The New York Entomological Society'' 22: 218–223. *Ellis, M.M., and M.D. Ellis. "Growth and Transformation of Parasitic Glochidia in Physiological Nutrient Solutions." ''Science'' 64 No. 1667 (1926): 579–80. *Ellis, M. M., Amanda D. Merrick, and Marion D. Ellis. "The Blood of North American Fresh Water Mussels Under Normal and Adverse Conditions." Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries 46 (1930): 509–542. lso identified as Bureau of Fisheries Doc. No. 1097 *Ellis, M.M., B.A. Westfall, and M.D. Ellis. "Determination of Water Quality.
Fish and Wildlife Service Research Report
No. 9, pp. 1–122, 1946.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Marion Durbin 1887 births 1972 deaths Scientists from Los Angeles Indiana University Bloomington alumni American ichthyologists Women ichthyologists American women entomologists University of Michigan faculty People from Anderson, Indiana