Herbert R. Axelrod

Herbert Richard Axelrod (June 7, 1927 – May 15, 2017) was an American tropical fish expert, a publisher of pet books, and an entrepreneur.

[2] While serving in an Army MASH unit in Korea, he wrote his book The Handbook of Tropical Aquarium Fishes, which eventually sold more than one million copies.

[2] After returning from Korea, Axelrod earned a Ph.D. in biostatistics at New York University and started the magazine Tropical Fish Hobbyist.

In an era before web forums and Google, collectors turned to Tropical Fish Hobbyist and Axelrod's dozens of books".

[5] In 1956, Leonard P. Schultz described the cardinal tetra, a popular aquarium fish, and gave it its scientific name, Paracheirodon axelrodi, which honors Axelrod.

[11] Axelrod, a violinist himself, assembled a large collection of old and rare stringed instruments, including the Hellier Stradivarius.

[12] In an unrelated case,[13] Axelrod was indicted in federal court in New Jersey on April 13, 2004, accused of funneling millions of dollars into Swiss bank accounts over 20 years without paying taxes.