Gilbert Percy Whitley
Gilbert Percy Whitley (9 June 1903 – 18 July 1975) was an Australian ichthyologist and malacologist who was curator of fishes at the Australian Museum in Sydney for about 40 years.
Also recorded as Whitley · Gilbert P Whitley · G P Whitley · G. Whitley
Gilbert Percy Whitley
- Born
- 1903 · Swaythling.
- Died
- 1975 · Sydney.
- Nationality
- Australia
- Occupation
- ichthyologist · entomologist · scientific illustrator · poet · zoologist
- Education
- King Edward VI School
- Honours
- Clarke Medal · Australian Natural History Medallion
- Languages
- English
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Documentary summary
Gilbert Percy Whitley (9 June 1903 – 18 July 1975) was an Australian ichthyologist and malacologist who was curator of fishes at the Australian Museum in Sydney for about 40 years.
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wikidata · Q1524045 · wikipedia · Gilbert Percy Whitley
In this article
Early life and education
Early life and education
Gilbert Percy Whitley was born on 9 June 1903 at Swaythling, Southampton, England, the eldest child of Percy Nathan Whitley and Clara Minnie (née Moass). He was educated first at King Edward VI School, Southampton and then Osborne House School in Romsey, Hampshire. Whitley migrated with his family to Sydney in 1921. He started working at the Australian Museum in 1922, while studying zoology at Sydney Technical College and the University of Sydney.
Career
Career
In 1925 Whitley was formally appointed to the title of ichthyologist (later renamed curator of fishes) at the Museum, a position he held until retirement in 1964. During his term of office he doubled the size of the ichthyological collection to 37,000 specimens through many collecting expeditions. After his retirement, another eminent ichthyologist, Frank Talbot, was appointed to his position, later becoming director of the museum for around 10 years.
Recognition
Recognition
• 1934: Elected fellow, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales • 1967: Natural History Medallion, by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria • 1970: Clarke Medal, by the Royal Society of New South Wales
Taxa described by him
Taxa described by him
• See:Category:Taxa named by Gilbert Percy Whitley
Places
Named by the record
Places
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Swaythling.
Birth place
Sydney.
Death place
Other activities
Whitley served as president of the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales during 1940–41, 1959–60, and 1973–74, and edited its publications from 1947 to 1971. He served on the councils of the Royal Australian Historical Society and the Anthropological Society of New South Wales. He was a member of the Great Barrier Reef Committee, and served as president of the Linnean Society of New South Wales from 1963 to 1964. He also had involvement with the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science.
Death and legacy
Whitley died in Sydney on 18 July 1975. The Whitley Awards for zoological literature were named in his honour, established in 1979 by the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales and continuing to this day (as of 2024). His zoological author abbreviation was "Whitley".
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Gilbert Percy Whitley”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1524045: Gilbert Percy Whitley
General reference · Wikidata
Taxa named in his honour
• Diaphus whitleyi, Fowler, 1934 is a species of lanternfish found in the Philippines and the Western Central Pacific Ocean. • The Bigcheek snailfish, Psednos whitleyi Stein, Chernova & Andriashev, 2001 is a species of snailfish found in the Eastern Indian Ocean. • Whitley's boxfish Ostracion whitleyi Fowler, 1931 is a species of boxfish found in the Eastern Central Pacific Ocean.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Murray, Maree. Whitley, Gilbert Percy (1903–1975). Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
- 2.Fisheries Branch, Department of Primary Industry (Commonwealth Government). Mr. Gilbert Whitley retires from museum. Fisheries Newsletter. 23. 9. September 1964.
- 3.Vale Professor Frank Talbot AM. The Australian Museum. 16 October 2024.
- 4.Whitley Awards. AustLit: Discover Australian Stories.
- 5.Whitley Awards 2024. Royal Zoological Society of NSW - Home.
- 6.Australian Faunal Directory:Acentronura breviperula. biodiversity.org.au.
- 7.Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Order MYCTOPHIFORMES (Lanternfishes). The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. 22 September 2018.
- 8.Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Order PERCIFORMES: Suborder COTTOIDEI: Infraorder COTTALES: Family LIPARIDAE. The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. 22 September 2018.
- 9.Christopher Scharpf. Order TETRAODONTIFORMES: Families MOLIDAE, BALISTIDAE, MONACANTHIDAE, ARACANIDAE and OSTRACIIDAE. 21 August 2024.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,285 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Gilbert La RocqueAuthor
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- Gilbert RenaultAuthor
- Gilbert SinouéAuthor
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