Michael I. Saaristo (1938 – 27 April 2008) was a Finnish

arachnologist Arachnology is the scientific study of arachnids, which comprise spiders and related invertebrates such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, ticks, and mites. Those who study spiders and other arachnids are arachnologists. More narrowly ...

, with a particular interest in the

spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

s of the

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, ...

. The

World Spider Catalog The World Spider Catalog (WSC) is an online searchable database concerned with spider taxonomy. It aims to list all accepted families, genera and species, as well as provide access to the related taxonomic literature. The WSC began as a series of ...

lists 61 genus names or synonyms and 109 species names or synonyms of which he is the sole or co-author. His account of the spiders of the Seychelles was published in 2010, after his death, with the assistance of Yuri M. Marusik. The spider genera '' Saaristoa'' and '' Saaristattus'' were named after him. The

lists 15 species with the specific name ''saaristoi'', honouring him.

References

Arachnologists 1938 births 2008 deaths Finnish zoologists 20th-century zoologists {{zoologist-stub