Pieter Bleeker

Pieter Bleeker (10 July 1819 – 24 January 1878) was a Dutch medical doctor, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He was famous for the Atlas Ichthyologique des Indes Orientales Néêrlandaises, his monumental work on the fishes of East Asia published between 1862 and 1877.

Life and work Bleeker was born on 10 July 1819 in Zaandam. He was employed as a medical officer in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army from 1842 to 1860, stationed in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). During that time, he did most of his ichthyology work, besides his duties in the army. He acquired many of his specimens from local fishermen, but he also built up an extended network of contacts who would send him specimens from various government outposts throughout the islands. During his time in Indonesia, he collected well over 12,000 specimens, many of which currently reside at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden. Bleeker corresponded with Auguste Duméril of Paris. His work in ichthyology and tropical medicine was recognised by two doctorates honoris causa (Leyden University, 1846; Utrecht University, 1849). most of them described in Reptilien van Agam.

In 1855, he became correspondent of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, department Natuurkunde (then Natural Sciences), and in 1862 a member. Bleekeriella leptaspis is a species of sea catfish, which was described by Bleeker, and later moved to a monospecific genus. Chlorurus bleekeri, known commonly as Bleeker's parrotfish, is a species of marine fish in the family Scaridae. Hemiarius bleekeri (Popta, 1900) was named after Bleeker, who collected the first specimen. Osteochilus bleekeri is a species of cyprinid fish endemic to Borneo and Sumatra. The Stone loach Triplophysa bleekeri (Sauvage & Dabry de Thiersant, 1874)

Taxa described by him See :Category:Taxa named by Pieter Bleeker