User:DO.Cataloger/Eugenia Brandt Böhlke

Eugenia (Genie) Brandt Böhlke (née Brandt; 27 June 1928 – 14 February 2001) was an American ichthyologist who published over thirty-five academic papers about moray eels. She was also an active collaborator with her husband James Erwin Böhlke, an ichthyologist who specialized in neotropical fishes. Both were associated with the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and Genie Böhlke contributed research to the institution until her death in 2001.

Early life and education
Eugenia Louisa Brandt was born in Black Diamond, Washington on 27 June 1928 to Arnold Louis Brandt and Gertrude Scholten Brandt. She attended West Seattle High School and graduated with a math major in 1945. She attended Valparaiso University on scholarship for two years, then transferred to Stanford University in her junior year. Böhlke graduated from Stanford with a B.S. in Biological Sciences in 1949 and stayed on to complete an M.S. in Chemistry in 1951. It was at Stanford that she her future ichthyological partner, and husband, Jim Böhlke. They were married in 1951 and had three children between 1951 and 1954.

Career
In 1951, Böhlke took a position with the Stanford Research Institute, providing financial support for the household while her husband Jim finished his graduate work. After Jim took a position in 1954 at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia to produce a handbook on the fishes of the Bahamas, Genie split her time caring for their young children, and providing cataloging, fieldwork, and editorial support for Jim's work. As her children grew, she had more time to focus on establishing a career in her own right. In her obituary, published in the journal Copeia by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, David G. Smith writes, "Her job titles changed over the years from Cataloguer to Technician-Chemist to Research Biologist to Museum Specialist to Research Associate, reflecting the increasing depth and impact of her work."

Over time, Böhlke developed an interest in Muraenidae (moray eels) and devoted the majority of her work to them. Of her proclivity for eel research, colleague John E. McCosker noted following her death, "Genie was organized and assiduous, and developed a keen eye for species differences—a difficult task within families of fishes bereft of scales and often without coloration or other useful characters."

Taxa Named
Several eel species were given patronymics containing versions of Böhlke's first name, including Uropterygius genie, Ophichthus genie, Aulixidens eugeniae, and Gobiosoma genie. [See if i can confirm all of these via additional sources].

[FURTHER RESEARCH LEADS]


 * ANSP Overview of Jim Bohlke (source related to her husband, may lead to further research on her)
 * FWNA treatise ("After Jim's death in 1982, she completed the monumental FWNAtreatise, the eel volume, serving as general editor and the coauthor of the muraenid and ophichthid sections.")

Publications in retirement
 * Category:Taxa named by James Erwin Böhlke (use this as a model for Eugenia's taxa? if the list is smaller, incorporate it directly in the article? Update this list so that it's taxa they named together?

[Add information from pp. 1177 of Smith (2002)].

Death and legacy
Böhlke died of cancer in 2001 after an initial diagnosis in 1996. Her final publication, an article on Gymnothorax eurygnathos, a new species of eel in the Gulf of California, was published posthumously in Volume 49, No. S1 of the International Journal of Tropical Biology and Conservation (Revista de Biología Tropical). The volume is dedicated to Böhlke and features a statement from her "fellow anguillophile" John E. McCosker. He notes her "recent death left ichthyologists at a loss for her absence but much the wiser from her life's contributions."

The Böhlke Fund, an endowment supporting ichthyological researchers at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, now a part of Drexel University, was established in the memory of Genie and Jim Böhlke.

Selected publications

 * Collette, B. B., Smith, D.G., and Böhlke, E.B. (1991). Gymnothorax parini, a new species of moray eel (Teleostei: Muraenidae) from Walters Shoals, Madagascar Ridge. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. Vol. 104, pp. 344-350. Biological Society of Washington. Washington. https://biostor.org/reference/85758
 * Böhlke, E. B., and  Ross, S. W. (1981). The occurrence of Muraena robusta Osorio (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae) in the West Atlantic: Northeast Gulf Science, v. 4, p. 123-125.
 * Böhlke, E. B. (1982). Vertebral formulae for type specimens of eels (Pisces: Anguilliformes): Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, v. 134, p. 31-49.
 * Böhlke, E. B., and  McCosker, J. E. (1982). Monopenchelys, a new eel genus, and redescription of the type-species, Uropterygius acutus Parr (Pisces: Muraenidae): Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, v. 134, p. 127-134.
 * Böhlke, E. B. (1997). James Erwin Böhlke (1930-1982) and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, p. 391-408 In: Collection building in ichthyology and herpetology. T. W. Pietsch and W. D. Anderson Jr. (eds.). American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Spec. Publ. 3, Lawrence, KS.
 * Böhlke, E.B. (2001). The moray eels of Australia and New Zealand, with the description of two new species (Anguilliformes: Muraenidae). Records of the Australian Museum, vol. 53, issue 1, pp. 71-102. Printed by the order of the Trustees. Sydney, Australia. https://doi.org/10.3853/j.0067-1975.53.2001.1325