About Frank Mace MacFarland
Lived 1869 – 1951 (aged 81). Frank Mace MacFarland was an American malacologist.
Frank Mace MacFarland (1869–1951) was an American malacologist associated with Stanford University in California. Born in Centralia, Illinois, MacFarland attended DePauw University (A.B. 1889), Stanford University (A.M., 1893) and the University of Wurzburg (PhD, 1896). Mrs. MacFarland was a skilled technician and artist whose delicate watercolor paintings illustrated many of his scientific publications.
Frank MacFarland was an authority on the life and habits of nudibranchs and he left unfinished a comprehensive monograph on the group which was published posthumously in 1966. He played a leading role in organizing the Hopkins Seaside Laboratory (now Hopkins Marine Station) in Pacific Grove, California, of which he was in charge from 1910 to 1913 and co-director from 1915 to 1917, and in which he maintained an active interest throughout the remainder of his life.
MacFarland served as President of the California Academy of Sciences from 1934 to 1946; his research collection of opisthobranch mollusks formed the basis of the academy's invertebrate collection.
In 2006, the MacFarland home on the Stanford campus (designed in 1914 by Arthur Bridgman Clark) was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Taxa named in his honor Gastropods named in honor of Frank Mace MacFarland include one genus and four species: Macfarlandaea Ev. Marcus & Gosliner, 1984 accepted as Pleurobranchaea Leue, 1813 Doridopsis macfarlandi Ostergaard, 1955 accepted as Dendrodoris nigra (Stimpson, 1855) Felimida macfarlandi (Cockerell, 1901) Platydoris macfarlandi Hanna, 1951 Runcina macfarlandi Gosliner, 1991
Taxa named by MacFarland
Acanthodoris brunnea MacFarland, 1905 Acanthodoris hudsoni MacFarland, 1905 Acanthodoris lutea MacFarland, 1925 Aegires albopunctatus MacFarland, 1905 Ancula pacifica MacFarland, 1964 accepted as Ancula gibbosa (Risso, 1818) Anteaeolidiella oliviae (MacFarland, 1966) Berthella agassizii (MacFarland, 1909) Berthella strongi (MacFarland, 1966) Cadlina flavomaculata MacFarland, 1905 Cadlina marginata MacFarland, 1905 accepted as Cadlina luteomarginata McFarland, 1966 Cadlina modesta MacFarland, 1966 Corambe pacifica MacFarland & O'Donoghue, 1929 Corambella bolini MacFarland, 1966 accepted as Corambe steinbergae (Lance, 1962) Cuthona abronia (MacFarland, 1966) Cuthona albocrusta (MacFarland, 1966) Cuthona flavovulta (MacFarland, 1966) Cuthona fulgens (MacFarland, 1966) Cuthona virens (MacFarland, 1966) Dendrodoris fulva (MacFarland, 1905) Dendronotus albus MacFarland, 1966 Dendronotus subramosus MacFarland, 1966 Dendronotus venustus MacFarland, 1966 Diaulula greeleyi (MacFarland, 1909) Dirona MacFarland, 1905 Dirona albolineata MacFarland, 1905 Dirona picta MacFarland, 1905 Discodoris branneri MacFarland, 1909 Discodoris voniheringi MacFarland, 1909 Doris odhneri MacFarland, 1966 Drepanida MacFarland, 1931 accepted as Trapania Pruvot-Fol, 1931 Elysia bedeckta MacFarland, 1966 accepted as Elysia hedgpethi Er. Marcus, 1961 Eubranchus occidentalis MacFarland, 1966 Flabellina pricei (MacFarland, 1966) Flabellinopsis MacFarland, 1966 Geitodoris heathi (MacFarland, 1905) Hancockia californica MacFarland, 1923 Hancockiidae MacFarland, 1923 Hermaea oliviae (MacFarland, 1966) Hermaea ornata MacFarland, 1966 accepted as Placida dendritica (Alder & Hancock, 1843) Hopkinsia MacFarland, 1905 accepted as Okenia Menke, 1830 Laila MacFarland, 1905 accepted as Limacia O. F. Müller, 1781 Limacia cockerelli (MacFarland, 1905) Montereina MacFarland, 1905 Montereina nobilis MacFarland, 1905 Okenia rosacea (MacFarland, 1905) Petelodoris spongicola MacFarland, 1966 accepted as Atagema alba (O'Donoghue, 1927) Phidiana nigra MacFarland, 1966 accepted as Phidiana hiltoni (O'Donoghue, 1927) Pleurobranchaea californica MacFarland, 1966 Polycera atra MacFarland, 1905 Rostanga pulchra MacFarland, 1905 Spurilla braziliana MacFarland, 1909 Tridachiella MacFarland, 1924 accepted as Elysia Risso, 1818 Triopha grandis MacFarland, 1905 accepted as Triopha occidentalis (Fewkes, 1889) Triopha maculata MacFarland, 1905
Publications MacFarland, F. M. 1897. "Celluläre Studien an Mollusken-eiern. I. Zur Befruchtung des Eies von Pleurophyllidia californica (Cooper) Bergh. II. Die Centrosomen bei der Richtungskörperbildung im Ei von Diaulula sandiegensis (Cooper) Bergh." Zoologische Jahrbücher, Abtheilung für Morphologie 10: 227–264, pls. 18–22. MacFarland, F. M. 1905. "A preliminary account of the Dorididae of Monterey Bay, California." Proceedings of the Biological Society, Washington 18: 35–54. MacFarland, F. M. 1906. "Opisthobranchiate Mollusca from Monterey Bay, California, and vicinity." Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries 25: 109-151, pls. 18–31. MacFarland, F. M. 1908. "Northern Opisthobranchiata." The Nautilus 22(2): 23–24. MacFarland, F. M. 1909. "The opisthobranchiate Mollusca of the Branner-Agassiz expedition to Brazil." Leland Stanford Junior University Publications, University Series (2): 1–104, pls. 1–19. MacFarland, F. M. 1912. "The nudibranch family Dironidae." Zoologische Jahrbücher Supplement 15(1): 515–536, pls. 30–32. MacFarland, F. M. 1918. "The Dolabellinae." Reports on the scientific results of the expedition to the tropical Pacific by the United States Fish commission steamer Albatross, from August, 1899, to June, 1900. XIX. Published by permission of H.M. Smith, U.S. commissioner of fish and fisheries. MacFarland, F. M. 1923. "The morphology of the nudibranch genus Hancockia." Journal of Morphology 38(1): 65–104, pls. 1–6. MacFarland, F. M. 1925. "The Acanthodorididae of the California coast." The Nautilus 39(2): 49–65. MacFarland, F. M. 1926. "The Acanthodorididae of the California coast." The Nautilus 39(3): 94–103, pls. 2–3. MacFarland, F. M. 1929. "Drepania a genus of nudibranchiate mollusks new to California." Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 18(15): 485–496, pl. 35. MacFarland, F. M. 1931. "Drepanida, new name for Drepania Lafont, preoccupied." The Nautilus 45: 31–32. MacFarland, F. M. 1966. "Studies of opisthobranchiate mollusks of the Pacific coast of North America." Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences 6: 1–546, pls. 1-72. MacFarland, F. M. & Charles Henry O'Donoghue. 1929. "A new species of Corambe from the Pacific coast of North America." Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, series 4, 18(1): 1-27, pls. 1–3.
Don’t just read it —
keep it.
Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.
- E-book
- Audio
- Video
Instant download · yours to keep · every purchase keeps this site free
Important facts
Family & relationships
People in Frank Mace MacFarland's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Frank Mace MacFarland's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Frank Mace MacFarland?
American malacologist (1869-1951)
When was Frank Mace MacFarland born?
Frank Mace MacFarland was born on 10 June 1869 in Centralia.
When did Frank Mace MacFarland die?
Frank Mace MacFarland died on 21 February 1951 in San Francisco.
What was Frank Mace MacFarland's occupation?
Frank Mace MacFarland was a malacologist.
What nationality was Frank Mace MacFarland?
Frank Mace MacFarland was American.
Sources & further reading
· Wikipedia: Frank Mace MacFarland
· DBpedia: Frank Mace MacFarland
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Frank Mace MacFarland. https://biography.guide/frank-mace-macfarland/
MLA: "Frank Mace MacFarland." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/frank-mace-macfarland/.
Chicago: "Frank Mace MacFarland." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/frank-mace-macfarland/.
Data last updated: 2026-09-22 · Spot an error? Report a correction.
Portrait: Wikimedia Commons · author & licence
Page generated 2026-09-27 05:01 UTC