Myron Gordon (November 13, 1899 – March 12, 1959) was an American biologist and geneticist and became an expert on platy fish Xiphophorus while using them for his pioneering cancer research, starting in the late 1920s.
The summer of 1924 saw him work as a Collector at the College of Agriculture, Cornell University, at McLean Bogs, NY.
[1] Gordon held a variety of professional posts throughout his career; Whilst at the AMNH he developed advanced systems to study genetic and molecular events in melanoma formation.
[4] Herbert Axelrod, of TFH Publications, knowing of Gordon's academic reputation and ability to write clearly on any level, recruited him to write a very popular series of booklets and magazine features aimed at tropical fish hobbyists.
[5] Gordon died suddenly in March, 1959 and his obituary in the Dec 1959 Copeia noted that "…conclusively demonstrated the heritable nature of melanoma in Xiphophorus and the essential relationship of the macromelanophore to its development…" During his collection trips, he discovered and named several new species, and in 1963, Robert Rush Miller and W. L. Minckley named Xiphophorus gordoni in his honor.