Sir Andrew Smith – his contributions and connections to freshwater ichthyology in southern Africa

Abstract

Sir Andrew Smith (1797–1875), a medical officer in the British Army, was posted to South Africa from 1821 to 1837. During that time, he founded the South African Museum and made many valuable scientific contributions to a range of disciplines; however, his contributions to the discovery of freshwater fishes have not been specifically discussed. Smith was the first to publish descriptions of southern African freshwater fishes in South Africa. He described seven new species in his famed publication of “Illustrations”, a significant step forward in the knowledge of southern African freshwater fishes at the time. This article explores the contributions made by Sir Andrew Smith to freshwater ichthyology in South Africa.

Keywords:

• taxonomy
• illustrations
• collections
• freshwater fishes
• history

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This article is an outcome of a long period of research over many years. I am grateful to the many individuals who have assisted me to obtain access to specimens and unpublished documents fundamental to the study. I am especially thankful to James Maclean at the Natural History Museum (London), Dr Peter Barsch at the ZMB, Dr M-L. Bauchot and Patrick Provost at the NMHN (Paris), staff at the Africa Museum (Johannesburg), and the staff of the Historical Document Centre at the William Cullen Library (University of Witwatersrand), who facilitated access to specimens and documents. Sally Schramm and Maditaba Meltaf at SAIAB obtained articles that were difficult to trace. Professor Alan Whitfield and Ofer Gon kindly read and their comments improved the script. Willem Coetzer kindly created Figure 6. The script was improved by the comments of anonymous reviewers.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.