Paul Matte (1854–1922) was a German

tropical fish Tropical fish are fish found in aquatic tropical environments around the world. Fishkeepers often keep tropical fish in freshwater and saltwater aquariums. The term "tropical fish" is not a taxonomic group, but rather is a general term for f ...

expert, importer, and fish breeder, and was a pioneer in the importing and breeding of the first tropical fish species to reach Europe. He lived in Berlin-Lankwitz,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In 1866 he imported the first

goldfish The goldfish (''Carassius auratus'') is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of the order Cypriniformes. It is commonly kept as a pet in indoor aquariums, and is one of the most popular aquarium fish. Goldfish released into the w ...

(''Carassius auratus'') to Germany from Japan, and the offspring were referred to as the "Matte-strain". He was the first to breed the paradise fish and

Siamese fighting fish The Siamese fighting fish (''Betta splendens''), commonly known as the betta, is a freshwater fish native to Southeast Asia, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is one of 76 species of the genus '' Bet ...

in Germany. In 1896 he imported ten pairs of

(''Betta splendens'') to Germany from Moscow, from the strain bred by Pierre Carbonnier in France. In 1897 he imported and bred the first specimens of the banded

gourami Gouramis, or gouramies , are a group of fresh water, freshwater Anabantiformes, anabantiform fish that comprise the family (biology), family Osphronemidae. The fish are native to Asia—from the Indian Subcontinent to Southeast Asia and northeas ...

('' Trichogaster fasciata'') to Europe. In 1905 he imported the first

zebrafish The zebrafish (''Danio rerio'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Danionidae of the order Cypriniformes. Native to South Asia, it is a popular aquarium fish, frequently sold under the trade name zebra danio (an ...

(''Danio rerio'') to Europe. Matte was the first to import both sexes of swordtail (''Xiphophorus hellerii''). The

characin Characiformes is an order of ray-finned fish, comprising the characins and their allies. Grouped in 18 recognized families, more than 2000 different species are described, including the well-known piranha and tetras.; Buckup P.A.: "Relationsh ...

'' Hemigrammus matei'' is named after Paul Matte, since he delivered the first specimens to the author

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 ...

, who described the species in 1918.The ETYFish Project
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matte, Paul German ichthyologists 1854 births 1922 deaths People from Steglitz-Zehlendorf Fishkeeping