John Paxton

If there is a single ichthyologist known to nearly every member of ASFB, it must be John Paxton. John was one of the founders of ASFB, and served as President of the Society early in its history. John may well have attended more Annual Conferences than any other active ASFB member. Importantly, John Paxton is winner of the coveted Donald Francois Award for his contributions at an Annual Conference, and probably would have been a multiple award winner if the Francois Award had been established earlier. John is a native of Los Angeles who fled to Australia and became a new Australian after completing his BA in Zoology (1960), MSc in Biology (1965) and PhD in Biological Sciences (1968) at the University of Southern California. He studied under Professor Jay Savage , whose lab produced a number of prominent ichthyologists and herpetologists during the 1960s. John specialized during his graduate studies on meso- and bathypelagic fishes, an interest that has carried through to the present. John has so far published over 100 scientific papers, including a major book – Encyclopaedia of Fishes (in two editions) – see publication list, below. Most people know him for his work on myctophid lanternfishes, and he is about to complete a massive publication on the myctophids of Australia with Alan Williams. But, John is also the world’s expert on the small, robust, large-mouthed, deep-sea Whale Fishes, which he personifies. He recently was a leading member of an international team that discovered what were always considered three separate families – Cetomimidae, Megalomycteridae, and Mirapinnidae – are in fact, the females, males and larvae, respectively of the one whalefish family, now known as Cetomimidae. Another milestone was the Catalogue of Australian Fishes, that was co-authored by a team consisting of John, Doug Hoese, Gerry Allen, Dianne Bray and Jenny Hadley. We now know that there are over 5000 species of fishes in Australian waters, perhaps the largest national fish fauna in the world. It is a little appreciated fact, that despite Australia being the driest inhabited continent, fishes constitute over 75% of our vertebrate species. In fact, the rate of discovery of fish species new to the Australian fauna has averaged about one per week for several decades, and John has played a major role in these discoveries. John has so far described 16 new species, and nine new genera (Table 1). Eighteen species and one genus are named in his honour (Table 1), and in most cases, John had collected most or all of the specimens from which others described these new species – with his help and encouragement. John has also made major contributions to fish conservation, especially sharks, having served for five years as Deputy Chair of the NSW Fisheries Scientific Committee, a group that for many years evaluated the threats to aquatic fauna in the State, and made recommendations to the Fisheries Minister on the status of NSW aquatic species and ecosystems. In addition to the Francois Award, the Society has recognized John by making him a honorary life member in 1991, and most importantly, by bestowing upon him the second K Radway Allen Award in 1997 – its highest honour - for his “outstanding contributions in fish or fisheries science”. His many accomplishments since his award are proof that the Award Committee got it right. John truly belongs in the Australian Society for Fish Biology Hall of Fame. In addition, John has received a number of overseas honours, including: Stoye Prize and Honorary Foreign Membership from the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists; Honorary Membership from the Ichthyological Society of China; Honorary Membership from the Ichthyological Society of Japan; and Allan Hancock Fellowship from the University of Southern California. A list of John’s publications to date is attached, but keep your eyes open, for there will surely be more to come. With thanks to Mark McGrouther and Amanda Hay