Catfishes, a Highly Diversified Group

Gloria Arratia is a leading scientist on the origin, diversification and systematics of the largest fish group, Teleostei. She retired from Humboldt University, Berlin and is currently associated with the University of Kansas. She has been awarded numerous professional prizes, with the first in 1994 (Humboldt Prize, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation) and most recently in 2022 (Joseph S. Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award in Ichthyology, American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists). A book, Origin and Phylogenetic Interrelationships of Teleosts Honoring Gloria Arratia by J. S. Nelson, H.-P. Schultze and M. V. H. Wilson (eds.), was published in 2010. She is Editor of the Mesozoic Fishes books series and Associate Editor of several journals. She is editor of nine books, including Catfishes (2003), and author of many publications concerning high-level teleostean ranks, 13 new families, 51 new genera, and 69 new species. She is a member of the Academia of Sciences of Chile. Roberto E. Reis is Full Professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and a leading scientist on South American ichthyology. He is the Regional Chair of the Freshwater Fish Specialist Group of IUCN for South America and a founding member and twice Past-President of the Brazilian Society of Ichthyology. He is Associate Editor of Ichthyology & Herpetology and of other journals and he has edited three other highly cited books. Dr. Reis has extensive experience in the area of ichthyology, mainly the discovery, documentation and description of biodiversity and the study of phylogenetic relationships using phenotypic and molecular evidence. He has discovered and described with coauthors and students 12 new genera and 141 new species of fishes. In 2021 he received the Robert H. Gibbs Award for the outstanding body of published work in systematic ichthyology from the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.