Michael R. Gray

Michael Robert Blair Gray (25 August 1941 – 28 July 2023) was an arachnologist who specialised in the taxonomy of spiders at the Australian Museum in Sydney with a particular interest in the systematics of Australian funnel-web spiders (Atracidae).

Biography Gray was born to Dorothy Dean Gray (nee Sweeting) and William Blair Christie Gray in Kensington, Western Australia. Gray was the great grandchild of William Blair Gray. He grew up in Perth, Western Australia, and attended Wesley College, Perth.

In 1968, Gray received a Master of Science with the Zoology Department of the University of Western Australia supervised by Barbara York Main. His thesis was titled: Comparison of Three Genera of Trapdoor Spiders (Ctenizidae, Aganippini) with Respect to Survival under Arid Conditions. In 1986, Gray was awarded a PhD through Macquarie University, with the thesis A Systematic Study of the Funnel Web Spiders (Mygalomorphae: Hexathelidae: Atracinae).

While at the Australian Museum, Gray met his wife, Greta Jensen, who was then working in the Marine Invertebrates department. They married in 1970 and had two children, Emma and Anna. Of particular public interest along with Gray’s funnel-web work, was a collection of papers co-written with medical doctor Geoff Isbister relating to spider bites. This work debunked the myth of flesh eating necrosis being caused by a bite from an Australian white-tailed spider (Lampona spp.). In 2004, Isbister and Gray were nominated as finalists in the Australian Skeptics Eureka Prize for Critical Thinking, for their paper on the white-tailed spider bite.

Cave spiders were another research interest, with Gray undertaking fieldwork in Jenolan Caves, Wombeyan Caves and caves on the Nullarbor Plain. Notable surveys Gray was involved in include the World Heritage Rainforests Survey with the Queensland Museum, the Lord Howe Island Survey, and the North East Forests Biodiversity Survey with NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Gray's field work has resulted in almost 11,000 specimen lots registered in the Australian Museum database under his name. Gray introduced contemporary curatorial techniques and standards to registering arachnology specimens at the Australian Museum. In 1977, with the support of an assistant, he started databasing specimens. By 1990, 28,000 specimens had been recorded. As of 2023, over 131,000 arachnological specimens are represented in the Australian Museum database.

Publications