Steve O'Shea

New Zealand marine biologist

Steve O'Shea
O'Shea dissecting a 30-kilogram giant squid in 1999
Born	(1965-12-14)14 December 1965 Auckland, New Zealand
Scientific career
Thesis	New Zealand Octopoda (Mollusca: Cephalopoda) : systematics (1998)

Steve O'Shea (born 14 December 1965 in Auckland, New Zealand)^[1] is a marine biologist and environmentalist known for his research on giant squid.^[2]^[3]

O'Shea obtained his degrees from Auckland university. He undertook a Bachelor of Science between 1984 and 1988. He graduated with an M.Sc. in 1990.^[4] The title of his 1998 doctoral thesis was New Zealand Octopoda (Mollusca: Cephalopoda) : systematics.^[5] He began work with the giant squid whilst working for the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) in New Zealand in 1996.^[4] He became the Director of the Earth and Oceanic Sciences Research Institute at the Auckland University of Technology in 2005,^[6] and was a Discovery Channel Quest Scholar.^[4] In 2009 he resigned from his Discovery Quest position to focus his research on coastal conservation, environmental matters and postgraduate supervision and teaching; despite this he has remained active in squid research, but is best known (in the popular press) for his involvement with large cephalopod taxa, particularly giant and colossal squids, and their preservation. In 2011 he resigned from his position at the Auckland University of Technology.

O'Shea has published extensively on cephalopods, fisheries, whale diet and shallow subtidal coastal ecology.^[7] He presently resides in Sydney.^[8]^[9]

Media appearances

O'Shea has appeared in over 13 documentaries on squid, whales and the oceans.^[10]

Some species named by Steve O'Shea

Cirroctopus hochbergi O'Shea, 1999 ^[11]
Grimpoteuthis abyssicola O'Shea, 1999
Grimpoteuthis angularis Verhoeff & O'Shea, 2022
Grimpoteuthis innominata O'Shea, 1999
Grimpoteuthis greeni Verhoeff & O'Shea, 2022
Luteuthis dentatus O'Shea, 1999
Luteuthis shuishi O'Shea & Lu, 2002
Muusoctopus tegginmathae (O'Shea, 1999)
Octopus kaharoa O'Shea, 1999
Opisthoteuthis chathamensis O'Shea, 1999
Opisthoteuthis mero O'Shea, 1999
Opisthoteuthis robsoni O'Shea, 1999
Robsonella mernoo (O'Shea, 1999)
Thaumeledone marshalli O'Shea, 1999
Thaumeledone zeiss O'Shea, 1999

Eponymy

Six marine species have been named after O'Shea to honour his contribution to science:

Awhiowhio osheai (sponge)^[12]
Brucerolis osheai (isopod)^[13]
Calvetia osheai (bryozoan)^[14]
Gonodactylellus osheai (mantis shrimp)^[15]
Magnoteuthis osheai (squid)^[16]
Vulcanolepas osheai (deep-sea barnacle)^[17]

References

^ Dr Steve O'Shea. "About Me". Retrieved 22 November 2021.
^ Grann, David (24 May 2004). "The Squid Hunter". The New Yorker. Retrieved 20 October 2007.
^ "Giant Squid Finally Captured on Film". Fox News. 28 September 2005. Retrieved 20 October 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Steve O'Shea Autobiography and Select Bibliography (2008)". TONMO.com. 2003. Archived from the original on 21 April 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2007.
^ O'Shea, Steve (1998). New Zealand Octopoda (Mollusca: Cephalopoda) : systematics (Doctoral thesis). ResearchSpace@Auckland, University of Auckland. hdl:2292/910.
^ "Colossal squid caught in Antarctic waters". USA Today. 4 March 2003. Retrieved 20 October 2007.
^ Dr Steve O'Shea. "My publications". Retrieved 22 November 2021.
^ "Dr Steve O'Shea". WEBNODE.com. 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
^ "Roving Photographer". WEBS.com. 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
^ Dr Steve O'Shea. "My documentaries". Retrieved 22 November 2021.
^ "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
^ Kelly, Michelle (2007). Porifera: Lithistid Demospongiae (Rock Sponges) (PDF) (Report). NIWA. pp. 39–41.
^ "New species of Brucerolis (Crustacea: Isopoda: Serolidae) from seas around New Zealand and Australia". Memoirs of Museum Victoria. 66 (1): 147–173. 2009. doi:10.24199/j.mmv.2009.66.15.
^ Taylor, Paul D.; Gordon, Dennis P. (2003). "Endemic new cyclostome bryozoans from Spirits Bay, a New Zealand marine‐biodiversity "hotspot"". New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research. 37 (3): 653–669. doi:10.1080/00288330.2003.9517196. S2CID 83821530.
^ Ahyong, Shane T. (2012). Mantis Shrimps (Crustacea: Stomatopoda) (PDF) (Report). NIWA. pp. 23–25.
^ Braid, HE; Bolstad, KSR (2015). "Systematics of the Mastigoteuthidae Verrill, 1881 (Cephalopoda: Oegopsida) from New Zealand waters". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 42 (3): 187–256. doi:10.1080/03014223.2015.1063516. S2CID 86026467.
^ Buckeridge, J.S. 2000. Neolepas osheai sp. nov., a new deep‐sea vent barnacle (Cirripedia: Pedunculata) from the Brothers Caldera, south‐west Pacific Ocean, New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 34:3, 409–418.