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Posted by Douglas DuHamel Jun 14, 2008 |
The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia has named a new species of catfish after a man who worked for 37 years in their mailroom. Frank Gallagher, who was the mailroom supervisor, retired in 2003 and was well-liked by the employees.
Frank was known for passing along gossip as well as the mail. He also had a keen interest in science. Delivering mail was just part of the job. He had to handle the shipping and receiving of biological specimens. The Academy now has 1.3 million fish so you can imagine how many specimens Frank handled in 37 years.
The new catfish was named Rhinodoras Gallagheri by Academy fish scientist Dr. Mark Sabaj Pérez and it was announced in the March issue of Copeia. Scientists must always give a Latin name to species so that is why they had to change the name to Gallagheri. I guess they didn’t want to use “Franki”.
The common name for this fish is the Orinoco Thicklip Catfish and it lives in the Orinoco basin in Venezuela and Colombia. The fish hides during the day and seeks its food at night.
Frank is enjoying his retirement and thought is was very nice of the Academy to honor him. It was noted that one of Frank’s favorite comments was "I've been here so long, I should be part of the collection by now." His wish came true! Source: Science Daily