Robert Rush Miller (April 23, 1916 – February 10, 2003) was an important figure in American

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 ...

and conservation from 1940 to the 1990s. He was born in

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

, earned his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in 1938, a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1943, and a Ph.D. at the

in 1944. He received tenure at the University of Michigan in 1954. Together with W. L. Minckley, he discovered a new species of platyfish, '' Xiphophorus gordoni'', that they named in honor of Dr Myron Gordon. He served as the ichthyological editor of ''

Copeia ''Ichthyology & Herpetology'' (formerly ''Copeia'') is a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research in ichthyology and herpetology that was originally named after Edward Drinker Cope, a prominent American researcher in these fi ...

'' from 1950 to 1955.

Fish described

* ''

Chortiheros wesseli ''Chortiheros wesseli'', commonly known as the Honduran mojarra, is a species of cichlid found in Middle America. It is endemic to fast-flowing waters of the Río Papaloteca, Río Cangrejal and Río Danto in the northern Caribbean coast of Ho ...

'' R. R. Miller 1996 - Cichlid * '' Cualac tessellatus'' R. R. Miller 1956 - (Checkered Pupfish) * '' Cyprinodon albivelis'' W. L. Minckley & R. R. Miller, 2002 (Whitefin pupfish) * '' Cyprinodon alvarezi'' R. R. Miller, 1976 (Potosi pupfish) * '' †Cyprinodon arcuatus'' W. L. Minckley & R. R. Miller, 2002 (Santa Cruz pupfish) * '' Cyprinodon atrorus'' R. R. Miller, 1968 (Bolson pupfish) * '' Cyprinodon bifasciatus'' R. R. Miller, 1968 (Cuatro Cienegas pupfish) * '' Cyprinodon eremus'' R. R. Miller & Fuiman, 1987 (Sonoyta pupfish) * '' Cyprinodon fontinalis'' M. L. Smith & R. R. Miller, 1980 (Carbonera pupfish) * '' Cyprinodon labiosus'' Humphries & R. R. Miller, 1981 (Thicklip pupfish) * '' Cyprinodon laciniatus'' C. L. Hubbs & R. R. Miller, 1942 (Bahama pupfish) * '' Cyprinodon macrolepis'' R. R. Miller, 1976 (Largescale pupfish) * '' Cyprinodon maya'' Humphries & R. R. Miller, 1981 (Maya pupfish) * '' Cyprinodon meeki'' R. R. Miller, 1976 (Mezquital pupfish) * '' Cyprinodon nazas'' R. R. Miller, 1976 (Nazas pupfish) * '' Cyprinodon nevadensis amargosae'' R. R. Miller, 1948 (Amargosa River pupfish) * '' †Cyprinodon nevadensis calidae'' R. R. Miller, 1948 (Tecopa pupfish) * '' Cyprinodon nevadensis mionectes'' R. R. Miller, 1948 (Ash Meadows pupfish) * '' Cyprinodon nevadensis pectoralis'' R. R. Miller, 1948 (Warm Springs pupfish) * '' Cyprinodon nevadensis shoshone'' R. R. Miller, 1948 (Shoshone pupfish) * '' Cyprinodon pisteri'' R. R. Miller & W. L. Minckley, 2002 (Palomas pupfish) * ''

Cyprinodon radiosus The Owens pupfish (''Cyprinodon radiosus'') is a rare species of fish in the family Cyprinodontidae, the pupfish. It is Endemism, endemic to California in the United States, where it is limited to the Owens Valley. It is a federally listed endang ...

'' R. R. Miller, 1948 (Owens pupfish) * '' Cyprinodon salinus'' R. R. Miller, 1943 * '' Cyprinodon salinus salinus'' R. R. Miller, 1943 (Death Valley pupfish, Salt Creek pupfish) * '' Cyprinodon simus'' Humphries & R. R. Miller, 1981 (Boxer pupfish) * '' Cyprinodon tularosa'' R. R. Miller & A. A. Echelle, 1975 (White Sands pupfish) * ''Xiphophorus gordoni'' Miller and W. L. Minckley 1963

Taxon described by him

*See :Taxa named by Robert Rush Miller

Selected publications

*Miller, Robert R. and Minckley, W. L. (1963) "''Xiphophorus gordoni'', A New Species of Platyfish from Coahuila, Mexico" ''Copeia'' 1963(3): pp. 538–546 *Lagler, Karl Frank; Bardach, John E. and Miller, Robert Rush (1962) ''Ichthyology'' University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
OCLC 61070182
(textbook) *Miller, Robert Rush, Wendell L. Minckley, and Steven Mark Norris. Freshwater fishes of Mexico. University of Chicago Press, 2005. *Hubbs, C. L., and R. R. Miller. 1948. The Great Basin with emphasis on glacial and postglacial times. II. The zoological evidence. Univ. Utah Bull. 38:17-166 *Miller, Robert Rush. Man and the changing fish fauna of the American Southwest. Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters, 1961. *Miller, R.R. 1972. Threatened Freshwater Fishes of the United States. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 101, 239–252.

References

*Frances M. Cashner, Gerald R. Smith, and Robert C. Cashner (2003) Robert Rush Miller and Frances Hubbs Miller, 2003 Copeia Vol. 2003, pp. 910–916. {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Robert Rush 1916 births American ichthyologists University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Michigan alumni University of Michigan faculty 2003 deaths Writers from Colorado Springs, Colorado 20th-century American zoologists Biologists from Colorado