Johann Heinrich Linck

Johann Heinrich Linck the elder (17 December 1674 – 29 October 1734) was a German apothecary and naturalist.

[1] His classification of starfish into two major groups based on the presence or absence of an ambulacral groove into Asteroidea and Ophiuroidea continues to be used in modern taxonomy.

His son Johann Heinrich Linck the younger (1734 – 1807) also became a naturalist and documented the collections of his father.

In this he created a major systematic division of the asteroids and ophiuroids based on the presence or absence of the ambulacral groove.

The natural history cabinet was also maintained and managed by the son along with the Leipzig physician Johann Ernst Hebenstreit.

Johann Heinrich Linck, engraving by Martin Bernigeroth (1670-1733).
Illustration from critique of De stellis marinis liber singularis published in Acta Eruditorum , 1733