William Neil Eschmeyer (February 11, 1939 – December 30, 2024) was an American ichthyologist.
[1][2][3] He was the founder and developer of the database and reference work Catalog of Fishes, hosted by the California Academy of Sciences and available both on-line and in print.
[1][5][6] His father, Reuben Eschmeyer, was the head of fisheries for the Tennessee Valley Authority.
The first Catalog of Fishes followed in 1998, as three print volumes and a CD-ROM, and the database was subsequently moved online.
[6] Eschmeyer was awarded the Bleeker Award for Excellence in Indo-Pacific Ichthyology in 2009 for a “lifetime distinguished accomplishments and great contributions in the study of fish systematics in the Indo-Pacific region” and the Joseph S. Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award in Ichthyology from the American Academy of Ichthyologists and herpetologists in 2019.