Dr Leonard Compagno
Research Director, SOSF Shark Centre
Dr Leonard Compagno is recognised as one of the world’s leading figures on shark taxonomy.
He began his academic career at Stanford University where he completed his PhD in Carcharhinoid sharks: morphology, systematics and phylogeny. In 1984 he wrote the seminal Catalogue of World Sharks for the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, and has gone on to publish over 500 items, taking in books and book chapters, popular articles and abstracts, while recently co-authoring A Field Guide to the Sharks of the World.
He has been a scientific advisor for several international films, including the original Jaws by Universal Studios, the BBC Natural History Unit's Great White Shark and Sensitive Sharks, and Survival Anglia's Jurassic Shark. Leonard is also a passionate shark conservationist, best exemplified by the instrumental role he played in lobbying for the South African government to protect the white shark in 1991.
In his new role as Director of Research at the SOSF Shark Centre, Leonard is keen to continue his original research into the sytematics, morphology, evolution and conservation biology of cartilaginous fishes, combining both established and cutting edge research techniques.
In addition to his roles within SOSF, Dr Compagno is also a co-founding director of the American Elasmobranch Society, an Ordinary Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa and the regional vice-chair for Southern Africa for the IUCN’s Shark Specialist Group.
He began his academic career at Stanford University where he completed his PhD in Carcharhinoid sharks: morphology, systematics and phylogeny. In 1984 he wrote the seminal Catalogue of World Sharks for the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, and has gone on to publish over 500 items, taking in books and book chapters, popular articles and abstracts, while recently co-authoring A Field Guide to the Sharks of the World.
He has been a scientific advisor for several international films, including the original Jaws by Universal Studios, the BBC Natural History Unit's Great White Shark and Sensitive Sharks, and Survival Anglia's Jurassic Shark. Leonard is also a passionate shark conservationist, best exemplified by the instrumental role he played in lobbying for the South African government to protect the white shark in 1991.
In his new role as Director of Research at the SOSF Shark Centre, Leonard is keen to continue his original research into the sytematics, morphology, evolution and conservation biology of cartilaginous fishes, combining both established and cutting edge research techniques.
In addition to his roles within SOSF, Dr Compagno is also a co-founding director of the American Elasmobranch Society, an Ordinary Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa and the regional vice-chair for Southern Africa for the IUCN’s Shark Specialist Group.
Personal Update: 2008
2008 is the last year of my employment at Iziko – South African Museum, but considerable time was spent developing my laboratory and attending to other items at the Save Our Seas Shark Center at Kalk Bay. This includes moving books and other items to the station, constructing shelving and a lab space, buying and setting up computers and other gear. Numerous research projects are ongoing, and are not detailed here. This is a partial and brief list of accomplishments to date.
.
Award
Won Gilchrist Memorial Medal for 2008. The medal is "awarded for outstanding contribution to the enhancement of marine and coastal science in South Africa, including the Southern Ocean". The Gilchrist Memorial Medal was established in 1987 by the old SANCOR (South African National Committee for Oceanographic Research) in association with the South African Marine Corporation Limited (Safmarine) to be awarded to distinguished marine scientists. The Medal serves as recognition of the recipients’ contributions to marine science, to further stimulate excellence in South African marine science, and to focus attention on South Africa’s marine and coastal environments. SANCOR is now known as "South African Network for Coastal and Oceanic Research" and still administers the awarding of the medal.
Applied for re-rating at National Research Foundation of South Africa in early 2008, possible to become A rated at the end of 2008.
Trips for 2008:
• Worldfish barcode gene workshop in Manila, Philippines (May 2008).
• Meeting of the Oceania Chondrichthyan Society in Sydney, Australia (ca. September, 2008).
• Research visit to CSIRO Marine Laboratory, Hobart Tasmania, September-October 2008.
Students:
• Ms. Alison Kock, University of Cape Town, Department of Zoology, M.Sc., 2003, upgraded to Ph.D. 2005, will complete her thesis in February 2009.
• Ms. Marlee De Vries, University of the Western Cape, honors on a new species of Etmopterus from South Africa in 2007, started a MSc in 2008 at the University of Pretoria on cognizance and complex behaviour in sharks.
Publications:
Compagno, L.J.V. 2008. Chapter 2. Pelagic Elasmobranch Diversity In M. Camhi, E. K. Pikitch, & E. A. Babcock, eds. Sharks of the Open Ocean. Blackwell Publishers, pp: 14-23, tab. 2.1. Volume covering the IUCN Asilomar conference on pelagic sharks, 2001. ISBN 0632059958 from Barnes & Noble. Published in March 2008.
Compagno, L.J.V., & Peter R. Last. 2008. A new species of wedgefish, Rhynchobatus palpebratus sp. nov. (Rhynchobatoidei: Rhynchobatidae), from the Indo–West Pacific, pp. 227-240, figs. 1-4, tabs. 1-2. In: P.R. Last, W.T. White & J.J. Pogonoski (eds). Descriptions of New Australian Chondrichthyans. CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research Paper 022, 358 pp.
Compagno, L.J.V., William T. White, & Peter Last. 2008. Glyphis garricki sp. nov., a new species of river shark (Carcharhiniformes: Carcharhinidae) from northern Australia and Papua New Guinea,with a redescription of Glyphis glyphis (Müller & Henle, 1839) pp. 203-225, figs. 1-13, tabs. 1-4. In: P.R. Last, W.T. White & J.J. Pogonoski (eds). Descriptions of New Australian Chondrichthyans. CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research Paper 022, 358 pp.
Ebert, D. A., L.J.V. Compagno, and P.D. Cowley. 2007-2008. Aspects of the reproductive biology of skates (Chondrichthyes: Rajiformes: Rajoidei) from Southern African waters. International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Journal of Marine Science, 65: 81-102, figs. 1-21, tabs. 1-2. Published on line in 2007, to be published in print in 2008.
White, William T., David A. Ebert, & L.J.V. Compagno. 2008. Description of two new species of gulper sharks, genus Centrophorus (Chondrichthyes: Squaliformes: Centrophoridae) from Australia, pp. 1–21, figs. 1-11, tabs. 1-3. In: P.R. Last, W.T. White & J.J. Pogonoski (eds). Descriptions of New Australian Chondrichthyans. CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research Paper 022, 358 pp.
.
Award
Won Gilchrist Memorial Medal for 2008. The medal is "awarded for outstanding contribution to the enhancement of marine and coastal science in South Africa, including the Southern Ocean". The Gilchrist Memorial Medal was established in 1987 by the old SANCOR (South African National Committee for Oceanographic Research) in association with the South African Marine Corporation Limited (Safmarine) to be awarded to distinguished marine scientists. The Medal serves as recognition of the recipients’ contributions to marine science, to further stimulate excellence in South African marine science, and to focus attention on South Africa’s marine and coastal environments. SANCOR is now known as "South African Network for Coastal and Oceanic Research" and still administers the awarding of the medal.
Applied for re-rating at National Research Foundation of South Africa in early 2008, possible to become A rated at the end of 2008.
Trips for 2008:
• Worldfish barcode gene workshop in Manila, Philippines (May 2008).
• Meeting of the Oceania Chondrichthyan Society in Sydney, Australia (ca. September, 2008).
• Research visit to CSIRO Marine Laboratory, Hobart Tasmania, September-October 2008.
Students:
• Ms. Alison Kock, University of Cape Town, Department of Zoology, M.Sc., 2003, upgraded to Ph.D. 2005, will complete her thesis in February 2009.
• Ms. Marlee De Vries, University of the Western Cape, honors on a new species of Etmopterus from South Africa in 2007, started a MSc in 2008 at the University of Pretoria on cognizance and complex behaviour in sharks.
Publications:
Compagno, L.J.V. 2008. Chapter 2. Pelagic Elasmobranch Diversity In M. Camhi, E. K. Pikitch, & E. A. Babcock, eds. Sharks of the Open Ocean. Blackwell Publishers, pp: 14-23, tab. 2.1. Volume covering the IUCN Asilomar conference on pelagic sharks, 2001. ISBN 0632059958 from Barnes & Noble. Published in March 2008.
Compagno, L.J.V., & Peter R. Last. 2008. A new species of wedgefish, Rhynchobatus palpebratus sp. nov. (Rhynchobatoidei: Rhynchobatidae), from the Indo–West Pacific, pp. 227-240, figs. 1-4, tabs. 1-2. In: P.R. Last, W.T. White & J.J. Pogonoski (eds). Descriptions of New Australian Chondrichthyans. CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research Paper 022, 358 pp.
Compagno, L.J.V., William T. White, & Peter Last. 2008. Glyphis garricki sp. nov., a new species of river shark (Carcharhiniformes: Carcharhinidae) from northern Australia and Papua New Guinea,with a redescription of Glyphis glyphis (Müller & Henle, 1839) pp. 203-225, figs. 1-13, tabs. 1-4. In: P.R. Last, W.T. White & J.J. Pogonoski (eds). Descriptions of New Australian Chondrichthyans. CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research Paper 022, 358 pp.
Ebert, D. A., L.J.V. Compagno, and P.D. Cowley. 2007-2008. Aspects of the reproductive biology of skates (Chondrichthyes: Rajiformes: Rajoidei) from Southern African waters. International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Journal of Marine Science, 65: 81-102, figs. 1-21, tabs. 1-2. Published on line in 2007, to be published in print in 2008.
White, William T., David A. Ebert, & L.J.V. Compagno. 2008. Description of two new species of gulper sharks, genus Centrophorus (Chondrichthyes: Squaliformes: Centrophoridae) from Australia, pp. 1–21, figs. 1-11, tabs. 1-3. In: P.R. Last, W.T. White & J.J. Pogonoski (eds). Descriptions of New Australian Chondrichthyans. CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research Paper 022, 358 pp.