Seth Eugene Meek (April 1, 1859, Hicksville, Ohio – July 6, 1914, Chicago) was an American ichthyologist at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. He was the first compiler of a book on Mexican freshwater fishes.^[1] Together with his assistant, Samuel F. Hildebrand, he produced the first book on the freshwater fishes of Panama.^[2]

He often collaborated with Charles H. Gilbert, and in 1884 on a collecting trip through the Ozarks, they discovered a new species, Etheostoma nianguae, which only lives in the Osage River basin.^[3] Also with them on that excursion was David Starr Jordan, considered the father of modern ichthyology.

After the Ozarks trip, Meek accepted the post of professor of biology and geology at Arkansas Industrial University (now the University of Arkansas).^[3]

Tribute

The American halfbeak was named in his honor Hyporhamphus meeki,^[4] as were the Mezquital pupfish (Cyprinodon meeki) and the firemouth cichlid (Thorichthys meeki).