Maurice Kottelat

Area of Taxonomic Interest: Ichthyology

Country: Switzerland

Role: Term ended August 21, 2024

Elected: December 2006, see BZN 63 (4): 222–223.

Maurice Kottelat's main field of expertise is the taxonomy of freshwater fishes of Eurasia. After holding a museum position for a few years, he became a "free-lance" taxonomist specialised in biodiversity surveys of aquatic habitats. Especially active in Southeast Asia for international agencies and industrial and development projects, he has the experience of the biodiversity data and taxonomy needed by non-academic 'users' (including deadlines). He has 29 years of extensive field research, especially in Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, Mongolia and Greece. Besides scientific publications on the material obtained as by-product of his consultancies, Maurice's interest is in the taxonomy of Southeast Asian fishes (especially the fauna of very swift water habitats like hill streams, rapids and waterfalls), cave fishes, history of ichthyology, bibliography. His taxonomic groups of primary interest are loaches (Balitoridae, Nemacheilidae, etc.), Cyprinidae, Sisoridae.

Summary of Research & Education:

Maurice is born in 1957 in Delémont, Switzerland. After early studies in Switzerland, he received his Dr Sc in 1990 from the University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands). He was awarded a Dr Sc Honoris Causa by the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland) in 2006 for his work on aquatic biodiversity. Since 1994, he is Honorary Research Associate at the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, Singapore. He is founding and current editor of the journalIchthyological Exploration of Freshwaters (since 1989). He has been president of the European Ichthyological Society from 1997 to 2007. He is author of 280 scientific publications, including the books Freshwater fishes of Western Indonesia and Sulawesi (bilingual English and Indonesian), Fishes of Laos (English and Lao editions), Freshwater fishes of Northern Vietnam, Fishes of Mongolia, Handbook of European freshwater fishes and a forthcoming Checklist of the Freshwater fishes of Southeast Asia

Contact Details:

Route de la Baroche 12
CH-2952 Cornol, Switzerland
Tel. +41 32 462 3175
Fax +41 32 462 2259

E-mail: mkottelat (at) dplanet (dot) ch