Jeffrey Johnson

2021 ASFB Hall of Fame Award

Mr Jeffrey Johnson has provided over 40 years of outstanding service in the Ichthyology section at Queensland Museum. Initially employed as a technical officer in 1977, for the past 25 years he has been Senior Collection Manager and Ichthyologist. Jeff’s contributions to our understanding of Queensland’s highly diverse fish fauna are immeasurable. His knowledge of Queensland’s fishes is exceptional, from the tiniest cryptic reef species to commercial species, and from pelagic environments to freshwaters. It is likely that Jeff’s general knowledge of the taxonomy and distribution of Queensland’s fish fauna exceeds that of anyone in history.

Jeff has actively developed and curated the Queensland Museum’s fish collection over many years through faunal surveys, collaboration with other government agencies, and via donations from commercial and recreational fishermen. Through study by Australian and international ichthyologists, the collection provides critical information for our understanding of the taxonomy and distribution of Queensland fishes specifically, and of Indo-Pacific fishes generally. Jeff has also published on the taxonomy and distribution of various taxa, including serranids, haemulids, polynemids, pinguipedids, scorpaeniforms, soleids, uranoscopids, acanthurids, tetrabrachiids, gobiids, sillaginids, mullids, and various elasmobranchs, as well as contributed checklists and identification accounts for national and international field guides, and popular articles on Queensland’s fishes.

Jeff has collaborated extensively with many Australian fish biologists, in particular contributing to bioregionalization studies, fish identification workshops and identification services, and has assisted other researchers and students in their studies. Anyone that frequents identification portals on social media, such as iNaturalist (which now hosts Atlas of Living Australia, as well as a large citizen science project on Australasian fishes), would recognise Jeff as an important contributor of identifications.

Whether in the field or in the lab, Jeff’s knowledge of Queensland fishes is remarkable and second to none: he knows the fishes, he knows where they occur, he knows what’s in the Queensland Museum’s collection, and he knows the relevant literature on the various taxa. The success of many researchers is in no small part due to Jeff’s tremendous work, knowledge and freely given assistance.

Mr Jeffrey Johnson was inducted into ASFBs Hall of Fame in 2021, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the identification and geographic distribution of Indo-Pacific, Australian and particularly Queensland fishes.