Pieter Bleeker

Pieter Bleeker was a Dutch medical doctor, ichthyologist, and herpetologist who lived from 10 July 1819 to 24 January 1878. He loved studying fish and reptiles, and he became well known for his important book called the Atlas Ichthyologique des Indes Orientales Néêrlandaises. This book is about the fishes of East Asia and was published between 1862 and 1877. Bleeker’s work helped scientists learn much more about the many different kinds of fish that live in that part of the world.

Life and work

Pieter Bleeker was born on 10 July 1819 in Zaandam. He worked as a medical officer in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army from 1842 to 1860, living in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). During this time, he studied fish and collected many specimens from local fishermen and his network of contacts across the islands. He gathered over 12,000 specimens, many of which are now kept at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden.

After returning to the Netherlands in 1860, Bleeker began publishing the Atlas Ichthyologique des Indes Orientales Néêrlandaises, a detailed book about his fish studies in Indonesia. It included over 1,500 pictures and was published in 36 volumes between 1862 and 1878, the year he passed away. He also wrote many papers about fish, describing new groups and species, and he studied reptiles as well.

Taxa named in his honor

Several fish species are named to honor Pieter Bleeker. These include Bleeker's parrotfish, a type of marine fish, and Bleekeriella leptaspis, a species of sea catfish that Bleeker himself described. Other fish named after him are Hemiarius bleekeri, the Shark minnow Luciosoma bleekeri, Osteochilus bleekeri, a type of cyprinid fish found only in Borneo and Sumatra, and the Stone loach Triplophysa bleekeri.

Taxa described by him

Pieter Bleeker studied many animals and helped name several groups of creatures. You can see more about the animals he named in the category Category:Taxa named by Pieter Bleeker.