George S. Myers

Dr George Sprague Myers, 1905-1985, spent most of his career at Stanford University, where he was one of the leading American ichthyologists of the twentieth century. He served as the editor of "Stanford Ichthyological Bulletin" as well as president of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. Dr. Myers was also head of the Division of Fishes, United States National Museum, and held a position as an ichthyologist for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. He also was Advisor in Fisheries and Ichthyology to the Brazilian Government.

He was a prolific writer of papers and books and is well-known to aquarists as the man who first described numerous popular aquarium species such as the flame tetra ("Hyphessobrycon flammeus"), the black-winged hatchetfish ("Carnegiella marthae"), the ram cichlid ("Microgeophagus ramirezi") and, most notably, the neon tetra. He is perhaps best known to aquarists for his collaborations with Dr William T. Innes who authored the classic book EXOTIC AQUARIUM FISHES. Dr. Myers served as the scientific consultant for this seminal work in the aquarium literature and, after Dr. Innes retired, served as the editor for later editions. When Dr Myers described the neon tetra in 1936, he named it "Hyphessobrycon innesi" in honor of Innes. The species was later moved to the genus Paracheirodon and is now known as Paracheirodon innesi.

References

Exotic Aquarium Fishes, Dr William T. Innes, 19th edition, Metaframe,Maywood, NJ, 1966