Gilberto Rodríguez

Gilberto Domingo Rodríguez Ramírez (12 May 1929 – 16 May 2004) was a Venezuelan carcinologist. Rodríguez is considered one of the contemporary figures of Venezuelan natural sciences who most contributed to their development in the country. His studies on the ecology of estuaries are recognized as worldwide references. Likewise, his carcinological studies on the family Pseudothelphusidae earned him recognition as an international researcher.

Biography He attended primary school at Colegio la Salle in Caracas and graduated from Liceo Andrés Bello. In 1955, he obtained a degree in Sciences from the Central University of Venezuela.

While studying at the Central University of Venezuela, in 1954 he published his first works in Acta Biologica Venezuelica and Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales, both focused on the genus Heliconia. He continued with several works on Myxomycetes. Venezuelan scientists later acknowledged his impact.

After graduation, he pursued a master's in marine biology at the University of Miami (1955–1958). During his studies, he trained at the Marine Biological Association Laboratory in Plymouth, at the Scottish Marine Station in Millport, and at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

He served as lead scientist of the South Pacific Expedition in Chile.

In 1958, he presented his master's thesis, published in 1959 as “The marine communities of Margarita Island, Venezuela”, which is considered the first modern ecological study in Venezuela.

In 1959, back in Venezuela, Rodríguez participated in founding the "Instituto Oceanográfico" of the Universidad de Oriente in Cumaná, serving as deputy director. In 1960 he returned to Caracas to work at the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC), where in 1963 he founded the Department of Hydrobiology. This group studied the Lake Maracaibo ecosystem, producing fundamental publications.

In 1964 he was guest at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where he studied freshwater crabs and described a new species (Rodriguezia villalobosi). In 1967 he presented at the International Symposium on Coastal Lagoons with his work on zooplankton in the Maracaibo estuary.

In 1968 he pursued a PhD at the University of Wales, completing his dissertation “Behavioural rhythms in littoral prawns” in 1970. He returned to IVIC and transformed the Hydrobiology Department into the Center for Ecology, recruiting leading Venezuelan ecologists such as Carlos Schubert, Ernesto Medina and Jorge Rabinovich.

Rodríguez also taught at the Universidad de Oriente and at the Central University of Venezuela, where he founded the chair of Marine Biology (1959–1978). He also taught ecology at the IVIC postgraduate program.

Rodríguez died in Caracas on 16 May 2004 at age 75. He is remembered for his many scientific contributions.

Carcinology 1. Freditus fittkauit, 2 Fredius platycanthus (Decapoda: Pseudothelphusidae).

Rodríguez made major contributions both to the ecology of estuaries and to carcinology. His first studies were on Venezuelan marine decapods, culminating in the 1980 book Los crustáceos decápodos de Venezuela.

He described nine new genera and 82 new species of freshwater crabs and shrimps, clarified their taxonomy and biogeography, and revealed the existence of pseudolungs in freshwater crabs together with Dr. Humberto Díaz. His monographs on Pseudothelphusidae and Trichodactylidae are considered fundamental.

At IVIC he established a world-class reference collection of decapods, particularly freshwater crabs.

He also served on editorial boards, including: Permanent member of the editorial board of Crustaceana (Leiden, Netherlands) Governor for South America of The Crustacean Society of Washington Member of the editorial boards of Acta Biologica Venezuelica, Acta Científica Venezolana, Amazoniana, Journal of Crustacean Biology, Journal of Natural History, Revista de Biología Tropical, among others.

Honors and recognition

Eponyms The Venezuelan carcinologist Guido Pereira dedicated a shrimp species of the family Palaemonidae to him: Macrobrachium rodriguezi.

The German carcinologist Pretzmann also named a freshwater crab Microthelphusa rodriguezi in his honor.

Other activities Beyond academia, Rodríguez held several positions: Member, National Agricultural Research Council (1968–1969) Representative of the Ministry of Education to the University of Oriente Board (1970–1971) Venezuelan delegate to the UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (1971–1979) Advisor at the Venezuelan Institute of Petroleum Technology (INTEVEP) (1991–1995) Member of the restructuring commission of IVIC (1998) Coordinator, PDVSA commission on the restoration of Lake Maracaibo (1998)

Species described by Gilberto Rodríguez Botanical species Heliconia schaeferiana Rodríguez, 1954 Heliconia aurea Rodríguez, 1954 Heliconia nana Rodríguez, 1954

Zoological species Family Palaemonidae Macrobrachium aracamuni Rodríguez, 1982 Macrobrachium cortezi Rodríguez, 1982

Family Trichodactylidae Dilocarcinus bulbifer Rodríguez, 1992 Dilocarcinus medemi Smalley & Rodríguez, 1972 Dilocarcinus truncatus Rodríguez, 1992 Rodriguezia villalobosi Rodríguez & Manrique, 1967 Trichodactylus kensleyi Rodríguez, 1992

Family Pseudothelphusidae

Chaceus caecus Rodríguez & Bosque, 1989 Chaceus cesari Rodríguez & Viloria, 1990 Chaceus motiloni Rodríguez 1980 Chaceus nasutus Rodríguez 1980 Chaceus turikensis Rodríguez & Herrera, 1994 Epilobocera wetherbi Rodríguez & Williams, 1994 Epithelplusa chiapensis Rodríguez & Smalley, 1969 Epithelplusa mixtepensis Rodríguez & Smalley, 1969 Eudaniela ranchograndensis Rodríguez, 1966 Eudaniela trujillensis Rodríguez, 1967 Fredius adpressus adpressus Rodríguez & Pereira 1992 Fredius adpressus piaroensis Rodríguez & Pereira 1992 Fredius cuaoensis Rodríguez & Suárez Fredius estevesi estevesi Rodríguez 1966 Fredius granulatus Rodríguez & Campos, 1998. Fredius orinoccensis Rodríguez 1966. Sinónimo de Fredius chaffanjoni Rathbun, 1905 Fredius estevesi siapensis Rodríguez & Pereira 1992 Fredius platyacahthus Rodríguez & Pereira 1992 Fredius stenolobus Rodríguez & Suárez, 1994 Fredius sucrensis Rodríguez & Campos, 2000 Hypolobocera barbacensis Campos, Magalhães & Rodríguez, 2002 Hypolobocera bouvieri stenolobata Rodríguez, 1980 Hypolobocera bouvieri rotundilobata Rodríguez, 1994 Hypolobocera brevipenis Rodríguez & Díaz, 1981 Hypolobocera chocoensis Rodríguez, 1980 Hypolobocera dantae Rodríguez & Suárez, 2004 Hypolobocera enberarum Campos & Rodríguez, 1995 Hypolobocera esemraldensis Rodríguez y Sternberg, 1998 Hypolobocera kansarum Campos y Rodríguez, 1995 Hypolobocera konstanzae Rodríguez & Sternberg, 1998 Hypolobocera mindonensis Rodríguez & Sternberg, 1998 Hypolobocera muisnensis Rodríguez & Sternberg, 1998 Hypolobocera noanamensis Rodríguez, Campos y López, 2002 Hypolobocera quevedensis Rodríguez & Díaz, 1981. Sinónimo de Hypolobocera caputti, (Nobili, 1901) Hypolobocera riveti Rodríguez, 1980 Hypolobocera ucayalensis Rodríguez & Suárez, 2004 Lindacatalina brevipenis Rodríguez & Díaz, 1981 Lindacatalina sinuensis Rodríguez, Campos et López, 2002 Lindacatalina sumacensis Rodríguez et Sternberg, 1998 Lobithelphusa mexican Rodríguez, 1982 Microthelphusa aracamuniensis Rodríguez & Suárez, 2001 Microthelphusa barinensis Rodríguez, 1980 Microthelphusa bolivari Rodríguez, 1980 Microthelphusa ginesi Rodríguez & Estéves, 1972 Microthelphusa guaiquinimaensis Rodríguez & Suárez, 2001 Microthelphusa maigualidaensis Rodríguez & Suárez, 2001 Microthelphusa marahuacensis Rodríguez & Suárez Microthelphusa racenesi Rodríguez, 1966 Microthelphusa turumikiri Rodríguez, 1980 Moristchus altaquerensis Rodríguez, Campos et López, 2002 Moristchus caucasensis Campos Magalhães et Rodríguez, 2002 Neostrengeria botti Rodríguez et Türkay, 1977 Neostrengeria boyacensis Rodríguez, 1980 Neostrengeria lasallei Rodríguez, 1980 Neostrengeria libradensis Rodríguez, 1980 Oedothelphusa orientalis Rodríguez, 1980 Orthothelphusa holthuisi Rodríguez, 1967 Potamocarcinus roatensis Rodríguez, & López, 2003 Potamocarcinus vulcanensis Rodríguez, 2001 Prionothelphusa eliasi Rodríguez, 1980 Pseudothelphusa contorta Rodríguez, 1966. Sinónimo de Fredius beccarii Coifmann, 1939 Pseudothelphusa granatensis Rodríguez et Smalley, 1969 Pseudothelphusa leiophrys Rodríguez & Smalley 1969 Pseudothelphusa lophophallus Rodríguez et Smalley, 1969 Pseudothelphusa peyotensis Rodríguez & Smalley 1969 Pseudothelphusa sonorae Rodríguez &Smalley, 1969 Ptychophalus barbillaensis Rodríguez, & Hedströn, 2000 Ptychophalus micracanthus Rodríguez, 1994 Strengeriana cajaensis Campos & Rodríguez, 1993 Strengeriana flagellata Campos & Rodríguez, 1993 Strengeriana foresti Rodríguez, 1980 Strengeriana maniformis Campos & Rodríguez, 1993 Strengeriana restrepoi Rodríguez, 1980 Strengeriana tolimensis Rodríguez & Díaz, 1981 Tehuana veracruzuna Rodríguez et Smalley, 1969