Franz Steindachner

Franz Steindachner ( born November 11, 1834 in Vienna, † December 10, 1919 ) was an Austrian zoologist.

Steindachner first studied law in Vienna, before turning to the natural sciences in 1856. He dealt first with fossil fish. Due to his excellent work, he assumed management of the fish collection of the Natural History Museum in Vienna was entrusted in 1860. The following year, after leaving Leopold Fitzingers, he also took over the collection of amphibians and reptiles.

First collecting trips led Steindachner to Spain, Portugal, the Canary Islands and Senegal.

Between 1859-1868 published Steindachner 55 ichthyological works with a total volume of almost 900 pages and was in a short time become one of the most prominent ichthyologists. In 1872 he visited the Galapagos Islands in collaboration with the American naturalist and former president of Harvard University Thomas Hill. In the 1890s he led the Austro-Hungarian deep-sea expeditions in the eastern Mediterranean, the Adriatic Sea and the Red Sea.

The genus Steindachneridion from the family of catfish ( Pimelodidae ), is named after him.

Writings

• The freshwater fishes of south-eastern Brazil, Vienna 1877
• About three new Characinen and three Siluroiden from the power of the Amazon in Brazil, Vienna 1908.
• Contributions to the knowledge of the freshwater fish of South America, Vienna 1915