Gerry R. Allen

Marine and Freshwater Ichthyologist

Born on March 26, 1942, in Los Angeles, California

Gerry R. Allen is one of Australia’s prominent Ichthyologists. During his career, he has  focused on the systematics, biogeography and ecology of Indo-Pacific coral reef fishes and freshwater fishes of Australia and New Guinea. To date, he has over 500 publications, including 36 books and 500+ papers on marine and freshwater fishes.

Born in Los Angeles Dr. Allen obtained his PhD in marine zoology from the University of Hawaii in 1971. He was enticed by Australia’s diverse yet poorly documented coral reef fauna, moving with his wife to Sydney in 1972 to work as an Ichthyologist at the Australian Museum. In 1974 he moved to Perth to begin a long and productive career as Curator of Fishes at the Western Australian Museum. Leaving the museum in 1997, Dr. Allen moved to Conservation International working as a Science Team Leader undertaking coral reef fish surveys in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and the Philippines until 2003.

After retiring from his position with the Western Australia Museum he began consulting for Conservation International (CI) becoming their Science Team Leader for Marine Rapid Assessment. Dr. Allen is a member of a number of professional societies. He was the first Australian to be an Honorary Foreign Member of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists and he is a Patron of the Australia New Guinea Fishes Association. Throughout his career, Dr. Allen has travelled extensively and has logged ca. 20.000 dives, predominantly in the Indo-Pacific region.

His passion for SCUBA diving, in conjunction with a keen interest in underwater photography, has led to hundreds of his photographs appearing in a broad range of international publications. Other interests and pursuits outside the marine environment include bird watching, rock climbing, mountaineering and bicycle racing, for which he has been eight-time state veteran champion.

Dr. Allen remains very active in describing new species. In a novel approach to raising funds for conservation, Conservation International auctioned off the naming rights for 10 of the species. The event was hosted by Prince Albert of Monaco and Christie’s Auction House of London and took place in Monaco in September 2010. The auction raised 2.1 Mln$ for Conservation International’s Bird’s Head Conservation Project, with Prince Albert buying the rights to one of the species’ names. A portion of the money was also invested in scholarships for Indonesian marine science students.

Dr. Allen’s most recent achievements include mapping and analysing the distributions of all Indo-Pacific coral reef fishes. In 2012, along with Dr. Mark Erdmann, the comprehensive three Volume, Reef Fishes of the East Indies was released. This work includes every fish species in the region (more than 2700) illustrated with more than 4000 images.