William Bussing

William Albert Bussing (September 27, 1933 - November 17, 2014), known as Don William, was an American ichthyologist who spent most of his career on the faculty of the Universidad de Costa Rica, working there from 1966 to 1991. He was appointed professor in 1978 and when he retired he became emeritus professor.

William Bussing
Born(1933-09-27)September 27, 1933
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
DiedNovember 17, 2014(2014-11-17) (aged 81)
San Jose, Costa Rica
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Southern California
Scientific career
FieldsIchthyology
InstitutionsUniversidad de Costa Rica

Early life

Bussing was born in Los Angeles, California. His university education was interrupted by his conscription to serve in the Korean War and by other jobs, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Southern California in 1960, and teaching degree in 1961.[1]

Career

Following his graduation, Bussing obtained an Inter-American Cultural Convention scholarship and travelled to Costa Rica to carry out research on the ecology of fishes of the Río Puerto Viejo, Sarapiquí in Costa Rica. One result of this research was the description of a new species, Phallichthys tico in his first paper published in 1963, the first of over 90 publications. He taught a course in ichthyology at the Universidad de Costa Rica in 1962 and from 1963 and 1965 he worked towards his Masters on the bathypelagic fishes found off the coasts of Peru and Chile. In 1965 he became an assistant researching fish herbivory around Enewetak Atoll. He returned to Universidad de Costa Rica in 1966 to teach biology. In 1968 he was a co-founder of the Universidad de Costa Rica's Museo de Zoología.[1]

In 1990 he was appointed by the Food and Agriculture Organization to study the distribution of fishes on the Pacific slope of Mesoamerica and Colombia, this work being published in many FAO guides to the commercially exploited fishes of the region. In all he wrote over 90 papers, a number of books and described around 60 new species. Bussing described more new species of vertebrate than any other zoologist working on Costa Rica. He undertook most expeditions with his wife, Myrna López, published some works with her too, and dedicated species to her and their children, Ilse and Erick.[1]

Selected publications

[2]

  • (1963). A new poeciliid fish, Phallichthys tico from Costa Rica. Contributions in Science (Los Angeles), No. 77, 1–13.
  • (1965). Biology of the Antarctic Seas 2. Studies of the midwater fishes of the Peru-Chile Trench. Antarctic Research Series, 5, 185–227.

Taxon described by him

[2]

Death

Bussing died in San Jose, Costa Rica, on November 17, 2014, of injuries sustained in a car accident.[3]

Taxon named in his honor

References
  1. Jorge Cortés; Arturo Angulo (2015). "William A. Bussing (1933-2014). Obituary/Obituario". Revista Biología Tropica. 63 (4): 899–902.
  2. https://www.redalyc.org/journal/449/44942283001/movil/
  3. Artigas Azas, Juan Miguel (November 19, 2014). "Professor William Bussing dies in car accident". Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  4. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2013). "Platygillellus bussingi" in FishBase. April 2013 version.
  5. Christopher Scharpf; Kenneth J. Lazara (29 January 2019). "Order BLENNIIFORMES: Families TRIPTERYGIIDAE and DACTYLOSCOPIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  6. Dawson, C. E. (1974). Studies on eastern Pacific sand stargazers (Pisces, Dactyloscopidae) 1. Platygillelus new genus, with descriptions of new species. Copeia, 1974, 39-55.)
  7. López S., M. I. (1980). Umbrina bussingi, a new sciaenid fish from the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean. Revista de Biologia Tropical, 28, 203-208.)
  8. Sazonov, Y. I. (1989). A new species of the genus Talismania Goode et Bean (Alepocephalidae) from the southeast Pacific. Journal of Ichthyology, 29, 83-87.)
  9. Loiselle, P. V. (1997). Diagnoses of two new cichlids from the Rio Sixaola Drainage, Costa Rica. Buntbarsche Bulletin, 180, 1-8.)
  10. Møller, P. R., Schwarzhans, W., & Nielsen, J. G. (2004). Review of the American Dinematichthyini (Teleostei, Bythitidae). Part I. Dinematichthys, Gunterichthys, Typhliasina and two new genera. Aqua, Journal of Ichthyology and Aquatic Biology, 8, 141-192.)
  11. Matamoros, W. A., Chakrabarty, P., Angulo, A., Garita-Alvardo, C. A., & McMahan, C. D. (2013). A new species of Roeboides (Teleostei, Characidae) from Costa Rica and Panama, with a key to the middle American species of the genus. Neotropical Ichthyology, 11, 285-290.)
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