About Leonard Compagno
Lived 1943 – 2024 (aged 80–81). Leonard Compagno was an American taxonomist, ichthyologist, zoologist, curator, museologist and university teacher.
Leonard Joseph Victor Compagno (4 December 1943 in San Francisco - 25 September 2024) was an international authority on shark taxonomy and the author of many scientific papers and books on the subject, best known of which is his 1984 catalogue of shark species produced for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. Compagno was mentioned in the credits of the 1975 film Jaws along with the National Geographic Society.
Career Ph.D, Stanford University, 1979 Adjunct professor, San Francisco State University, 1979 to 1985 Curator of Fishes in the Division of Life Sciences and Head of the Shark Research Centre (SRC), Iziko Museums, Cape Town Director, Shark Research Institute (SRI)
Selected bibliography Compagno, L.J.V., 1979. Carcharhinoid sharks: morphology, systematics and phylogeny. Unpublished Ph. D. Thesis, Stanford University, 932 p. Available from University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Leonard Compagno, 1984a. FAO species catalogue. Vol. 4. Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of sharks species known to date. Part 1. Hexanchiformes to Lamniformes. FAO Fish Synop., (125)Vol.4, Pt.1: 249 p. - A copy is available online at Fao.org Leonard Compagno, 1984b. FAO species catalogue. Vol. 4. Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Part 2. Carcharhiniformes. FAO Fish.Synop., (125) Vol.4, Pt.2: 251-655 - A copy is available online at Fao.org Leonard Compagno, 1988. Sharks of the Order Carcharhiniformes. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 486 pp + 21 Figures, + 35 Plates. Leonard Compagno, 1999. Checklist of living elasmobranches, p. 471-498. In: W.C. Hamlett, ed. Sharks, skates and rays: the biology of elasmobranchs fishes, Johns Hopkins University Press. Maryland, 515 pp. - A partial copy is available online at Google.books.it Leonard Compagno, 2001. Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Vol. 2. Bullhead, mackerel, and carpet sharks (Heterodontiformes, Lamniformes and Orectolobiformes). FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes. No 1, Vol. 2. Roma, FAO. 269 pp. - A copy is available online at Fao.org Leonard Compagno, Dando M., Fowler S., 2005. A Field Guide to the Sharks of the World. HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., London. 368 pp., 64 colour plates. Princeton Field Guide: . Collins Field Guide: .
Taxon described by him See :Category:Taxa named by Leonard Compagno
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Important facts
People in Leonard Compagno's life
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Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Leonard Compagno's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Leonard Compagno?
American shark ichthyologist (1943–2024)
When was Leonard Compagno born?
Leonard Compagno was born in 1943 in San Francisco.
When did Leonard Compagno die?
Leonard Compagno died on 25 September 2024.
What was Leonard Compagno's occupation?
Leonard Compagno was a taxonomist, ichthyologist, zoologist, curator, museologist and university teacher.
What nationality was Leonard Compagno?
Leonard Compagno was American.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Leonard Compagno. https://biography.guide/leonard-compagno/
MLA: "Leonard Compagno." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/leonard-compagno/.
Chicago: "Leonard Compagno." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/leonard-compagno/.
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