CORNEL CONSTANTIN PLEŞA (3 August August 2008)

Transcription

1 CORNEL CONSTANTIN PLEŞA (3 August August 2008) Corneliu Pleşa, cave biologist was born on August 3 rd, 1931 in Cluj. He attended the primary school in his hometown and in 1940, at the age of 9, he moved to Bucharest as a war refugee, city where he lived until He started the high school education in Bucharest, at Archiepiscopal High School Sfântul Iosif and returned to Cluj where he continued his formation at Gheorghe Bariţiu high school. After graduation and in spite of his family wish to become a medicine doctor, Corneliu Pleşa entered Natural Science Faculty (pedagogic section). He graduate in 1954 and in the same year he was employed as a Research Assistant at the Institute of Speleology, institution at the time under the auspices of Babeş University. He will be promoted to Scientific Researcher in 1956, when the Institute of Speleology from Cluj became a Department of the newly founded institute in Bucharest. In 1967 he was promoted to Senior Researcher III and defended his PhD in biology in In 1990, Corneliu Pleşa became Senior Researcher II, and in 1998 Senior Researcher I. Dr. Corneliu Pleşa, a devoted biologist and field researcher, was deeply interested in all manifestations of the living nature. He had great passion for the natural world and he dedicated his scientific life to the study of groundwater fauna. During his career, he investigated more than 650 karst phenomena, especially caves in Romania, Hungary, former Czechoslovakia, former Yugoslavia, Austria, and Switzerland. He participated to several expeditions and speleological explorations in Romania, mapping over 10 km of cave passages and, together with his colleagues from the institute, discovered new caves or new passages in caves. He was also deeply interested in cave photography performing over 5000 karstrelated photos. Dr. Corneliu Pleşa s main scientific interests were: biospeleology, namely the systematics and taxonomy of subterranean cyclopoids (Crustacea, Copepoda); biology of fresh, marine and brackish subterranean waters. His PhD thesis, Investigations upon reproductive periodicity in troglobiont cave crustaceans, is a milestone in the research of cave aquatic fauna from Romania. Supervised by Dr. Theodor Busnitza (Corresponding Member of the Romanian Academy at that time), his thesis is an ample investigation of three aquatic cave crustaceans, cyclopoids, bathynellacea and isopods, in one of the most important caves in Pădurea Craiului Mountains (north-western Romania), the Vadu Crişului Cave. He was a worldwide specialist in systematics of cyclopoid copepods, continuing the work and the famous school on groundwater fauna initiated in Cluj by Trav. Inst. Spéol. «Émile Racovitza», t. XLVIII, p. 3 10, Bucarest, 2009

2 4 Cornel Constantin Pleşa (3 August August 2008) 2 Fig. 1. Taking samples with Karaman-Chappuis method in Vadu Crişului Cave (north-western-romania). Fig. 2. Presenting the Biospeologica collection: C. Pleşa, Ch. Juberthie, D. Coman, and C. Delamare-Debouttevile (from left to right) (in 1970, Centenaire of Institute of Speleology Emil Racoviţă ). Pierre Alfred Chappuis, deputy director of the institute between 1922 and It was P.A. Chappuis who coordinated his first steps in the knowledge of systematics and taxonomy of this group of crustaceans, leading Dr. Pleşa s PhD thesis in the

3 3 Cornel Constantin Pleşa (3 August August 2008) 5 first years of research. They had an intensive correspondence during this time, changing also cave material collected from Romanian caves. At the beginning of his research on cyclopoid copepods he had also a fruitful correspondence with other known researchers in the field of systematics and taxonomy of copepods: René Jeannel and Claude Delamare-Debouteville (France), Friedrich Kiefer and Karl Lang (Germany). P.A. Chappuis and C. Delamare-Debouteville named a new microcerberid isopod, Microcerberus pleşai Chappuis & Delamare-Debouteville, 1958, in his honor. The species was discovered in one of the cave intensively investigated by Corneliu Pleşa during his PhD research. Dr. Pleşa s scientific activity focused on cave and interstitial cyclopoids mainly from north-western Romania. However, he took part in the scientific campaigns organized by his colleagues from Bucharest in the karst of Banat, Mehedinţi Plateau and Dobrogea. Over the years he collected a vast scientific material from caves, groundwater, hypogean and epigean habitats (both terrestrial and aquatic) selecting a huge amount of specimens (over 150,000). By studying such an impressive number of organisms of various aquatic crustacean groups, he published the results in more than 50 scientific papers in national and international journals. He described 1 genus and 13 new species for science. He was interested also in collecting other scientific material like floristic, archeological, palaeontological and mineralogical samples. He enlarged his research interests in the field of hydrobiology where he conducted rigorous research on biology of hyper-saline lakes ( ) and on fishing pools in Cluj County (1983). Dr. Corneliu Pleşa was interested also in the general aspects of karstology. He was co-author of several monographs (more than 20 publications) and conducted researches in this field. Dr. Pleşa was also a promoter of cave science in the amateur caving community, having more than 250 participations at national conferences, the majority of them accompanied by the photos taken during the cave trips; he published over 25 articles, books and guides books for cave amateurs in various nationals and internationals journals. He obtained several awards for his scientific activity, i.e. from the Education Ministry in 1996 for the article, Flora and vegetation of the natural reserve Crişul Repede Gorges and Emil Racovitza prize of the Romanian Academy, for his collaboration to the volume Resultats des expeditions biospeleologiques cubanoroumaines a Cuba. His enthusiasm for cave photography was appreciated at several internationals contests, i.e. Brussels (1958, 1974). Dr. Corneliu Pleşa officially retired on the 1 st of June 1999 but he continued his scientific activity at the Emil Racoviţă Institute of Speleology until April 2003 when he suffered a stroke. Dr. Corneliu Pleşa past away on the 15 th August 2008, aged 77. By his loss, the Cluj Department of the Emil Racoviţă Institute of Speleology lost one of the most prominent researchers on subterranean copepods and aquatic cave biology in Romania.

4 6 Cornel Constantin Pleşa (3 August August 2008) 4 Fig. 3. Regards from René Jeannel for discovering the archiannelid Troglochaetus beranecki Delachaux, 1921 in Romania.

5 5 Cornel Constantin Pleşa (3 August August 2008) 7 Fig. 4. Dedication from the faimous copepodologist Friedrich Kiefer. New genera described by Dr. Corneliu Pleşa Heterocyclopina Pleşa, 1968 Teratocyclops Pleşa, 1981 Species described by Dr. Corneliu Pleşa Cyclopoida. Copepoda (freshwater)

6 8 Cornel Constantin Pleşa (3 August August 2008) 6 Diacyclops languidoides spelaeus Pleşa, 1956 Acanthocyclops reductus propinquus Pleşa, 1957 Halicyclops brevispinosus psammophilus Pleşa, 1959 Neocyclops affinis Pleşa, 1961 Neocyclops improvisus Pleşa, 1973 Allocyclops botosaneanui Pleşa, 1981 Cryptocyclops bicolor transactor Pleşa, 1981 Mesocyclops orghidani Pleşa, 1981 Metacyclops dentatus Pleşa, 1981 Metacyclops rudis Pleşa, 1981 Teratocyclops cubensis Pleşa, 1981 Diacyclops languidus maisi Pleşa & Buzilă, 1998 Eucyclops scythicus Pleşa, 1989 Cyclopoida. Copepoda (marine) Heterocyclopina vietnamensis Pleşa, 1968 Calanoida. Copepoda (marine) Pareuryte remanei Pleşa, 1964 PUBLICATIONS LIST OF DR. CORNELIU PLEŞA 1956 Pleşa, C., Contribuţii la fauna ciclopidelor (Crustacee, Copepode) din Republica Populară Română. Analele Inst. Cercet. Pisc., I (IV), Serie nouă: Pleşa, C., Şerban, M., Copepodele din apele Dobrogei: Ciclopide. Bul. Inst. Cercet. Pisc., XV (2): Pleşa, C., Quelques remarques sur les Halicyclopines (Crustacés, Copépodes) des eaux roumaines. Folia Balc., Inst. Pisc. R.P. Macéd., Skopje, I (5): Pleşa, C., Contribuţii critice asupra ciclopidelor (Crustacee, Copepode) din Transilvania, descrise de Eugen Daday, Stud. Cerc. Biol., Acad. R.P.R., Filiala Cluj, VIII (1 2): Şerban, M., Pleşa, C., Notes sur le Copépodes de la Mer Noire. Izdanija, Inst. Pisc. R.P.Macéd. Skopje, I (10): Pleşa, C., Eine neue Höhlencyclopidenform (Acanthocyclops reductus var. propinquus n. var.) aus Rumänien. Zool. Anz. Leipzig 159 (5/6): Pleşa, C., Un animal cavernicol nou pentru fauna Republicii Populare Române: Troglochaetus beranecki Delachaux (Archiannelida). Comunic. Acad. R.P.R., VII (22): Pleşa, C., Conspectul sistematic al ciclopidelor (Crustacee, Copepode) cunoscute până în prezent din Republica Populară Română. Studia Univ. V. Babeş et Bolyai, Biologia, III (7), II (2): Viehmann, I., Pleşa, C., Peştera cu Apă din Valea Leşului un monument al naturii. Ocrot. Nat., 3: Pleşa, C., Étude sur la faune interstitielle littorale de la Mer Noire. I. Description du Halicyclops brevipispinosus psamophilus n. subsp. (Crustacés, Copépodes). Lucr. Ses. Şt. (15 17 sept. 1956) Stat. Zool. Mar. Prof. Ioan Borcea Agigea:

7 7 Cornel Constantin Pleşa (3 August August 2008) Pleşa, C., Redescription of the subterranean freshwater Cyclopoid Acanthocyclops reductus propinquus Pleşa (Copepoda). Crustaceana, 3 (1): Pleşa, C., New cyclopoids (Crustacea, Copepoda) of the Interstitial Fauna from the beaches of Ghana. J. West. Afr. Sci. Assoc., 7 (1): Pleşa, C., Ciclopide (Crustacea, Copepoda) din Delta Dunării. Hidrobiologia, IV: Pleşa, C., Étude sur la faune interstitielle littorale de la mer Noire. III. Résultats preliminaires des recherches sur la côte roumanie, avec aperçu spécial sur les Cyclopoïdes Gnathostomes (Crustacea, Copepoda). Vie et Millieu, XIV (4): Pleşa, C., Un ciclopid nou pentru fauna interstiţială litorală a Mării Negre, Pareuryte remanei Herbst s. lato (Crustacea, Copepoda). Lucr. Inst. Speol. Emil Racoviţă, III: Pleşa, C., Botea F., Racoviţă, G., Cercetări asupra faunei biotopurilor acvatice subterane din bazinul Crişului Repede. I. Valea Mişidului şi afluenţi. Lucr. Inst. Speol. Emil Racoviţă, III: Viehmann, I., Pleşa, C., Rusu, T., Peştera de la Vadu-Crişului. Lucr. Inst. Speol. Emil Racoviţă, III: Puşcariu, V., Pleşa, C., Viehmann, I., Peşterile din carstul craşovean. Lucr. Inst. Speol. Emil Racoviţă, III: Pleşa, C., Pintea-Alb, M., Sălăjan, I., Wild, F., Date noi asupra ecologiei şi răspândirii geografice a ciclopidelor (Crustacea, Copepoda) în România. Lucr. Inst. Speol. Emil Racoviţă, IV: Pleşa, C., Recherches sur la périodicité de reproduction chez les cavernicoles. Spelunca Mémoires, 5: Pleşa, C., Un nouveau Cyclopoïde interstitiel de la Mer de Chine, Heterocyclopina vietnamensis n.g.n.sp. (Crustacea, Copepoda). Vie et Milieu, Sér. A-Biol. Mar., XIX (2 A): Pleşa, C., Sur quelque Cyclopoïdes (Crustacea, Copepoda) cavernicoles de Slovénie (Yugoslavie). Rass. Speleol. Ital., 3 4: Botea, F., Pleşa, C., Cercetări asupra faunei interstiţiale din bazinul Crişului Repede. Lucr. Inst. Speol. Emil Racoviţă, VII: Pleşa, C., Notă critică asupra unor ciclopide (Crustacea, Copepoda) din apele subterane ale României, Lucr. Inst. Speol. Emil Racoviţă, VIII: Pleşa, C., Fauna cavernicolă acvatică din peşterile calcaroase. In Călinescu R. (ed.), Biogeografia României. Edit. Ştiinţifică (Bucureşti): Pleşa, C., Cercetări asupra periodicităţii reproductive la unele crustacee cavernicole troglobionte. Résumé de Thèse de doctorat en Biologie, Bucharest, 30 pp Pleşa, C., Contribution à la connaissance des Cyclopïdes (Crustacea, Copepoda) des grottes et des eaux interstitielles de Suisse. Rev. Suisse Zool., 78 (4/49): Pleşa, C., Giron, R., Recherche sur la faune des grottes et des eaux interstitielles de Suisse, Stalactite, 21 ème années, 1: Pleşa, C., Une technique nouvelle pour la récolte de la faune des gours. Spelunca. 1 (4 ème série), 12: Pleşa, C., Un nouveau Cyclopide interstitiel de la mer des Caraïbes, Neocyclops improvisus n. sp. (Crustacea, Copepoda). Rés. Exped. Biospéol. Cubano-roumaines à Cuba. Edit. Academiei R.S.R. (Bucureşti): Pleşa, C., Racoviţă, G., Recherche sur les gours, en tant que milieux aquatiques souterraines. Note I. Livre du cinquantenaire de l Inst. de Speol. (Bucharest-Cluj), 2 11 Oct. 1971: Bleahu, M., Decu, V., Negrea S., Pleşa, C., Povară, I., Viehmann, I., Peşteri din România. Edit. Ştiinţifică şi Enciclopedică, 415 pp Pleşa, C., Nouvelles données sur la répartition et l écologie de Troglochaetus beranecki Del. (Archiannelida) en Roumanie. Trav. Inst. Spéol. Emil Racoviţă, XVI: 9 16.

8 10 Cornel Constantin Pleşa (3 August August 2008) Pleşa, C., Date inedite asupra unor peşteri din Munţii Pădurea Craiului. Nymphaea, VI: Pleşa, C., Cyclopoïdes (Crustacea, Copepoda) de Cuba. Rés. Exped. Biospéol. Cubanoroumaines à Cuba. Edit. Academiei R.S.R. (Bucureşti): Pleşa, C., Microglossaire de Stygologie. Theor. and Appl. Karstol., 2: Pleşa, C., Aspecte privind biologia lacurilor hipersaline. Lucr. Semin. Şt. Actualitate şi perspectivă în biologie, C.C.B. Cluj Napoca, Tipo Agron., Cluj Napoca: Pleşa, C., Les aqueducs, en tant qu habitats temporaires pour la stygofaune. Trav. Inst. Spéol. Emil Racoviţă, XXVI: Pleşa, C., Étude préliminaire des Cyclopoïdes (Crustacea, Copepoda) de la grotte Peştera Movile, Mangalia (Roumanie), Misc. Speol. Rom., 1: Pleşa, C., Cyclopoïdes (Crustacea, Copepoda) de Cuba. Supplément (Biométrie). Misc. Speol. Rom., 1: Pleşa, C., Îndrumător pentru colectarea, conservarea şi recunoaşterea faunei acvatice subterane. Edit. Inst. Speol. Emil Racoviţă, Cluj Napoca, 30 pp Pleşa, C., Un compartiment écologique majeur pour la stygofaune: le psamal. Trav. Inst. Spéol. Emil Racoviţă, XXXIV: Pleşa, C., Sur un remarquable cas d adaptation à la vie dans l interstitiel (psamal): Microcerberus Pleşai Chappuis et Delamare Debouteville (Crustacea, Isopoda, Microcerberidae), Mém. de Biosp., XXIII: Pleşa, C., Chintăuan-Mihuţ, I., Nouvelles données sur la présence et la répartition géographiques des cyclopoïdes (Crustacea, Copepoda) en Roumanie. II., Studii şi Cerc. (Şt. Nat.) Bistriţa, 2: Pleşa, C., Moldovan, O., Munteanu, A., Aperçu biospéologique sur la grotte de Vadu-Crişului, Monts Pădurea Craiului (Transylvanie, Roumanie). Trav. Inst. Spéol. Émile Racovitza, XXXV: Pleşa, C., Analyse comparée de la stygofaune dans deux importantes grottes touristiques d Autriche: Hermannshöhle (Niederösterreich) et Lurgrotte (Steiermark). Proceedings of the 12th International Congress of Speleology, Symposium 9: Biospeology, Switzerland, 3: Pleşa, C., Buzilă, R., Recherques sur la stygofaune de Lurgrotte (Styrie, Autriche) avec aperçu special sur les cyclopoïdes (Crustacea, Copepoda), Studii şi Cerc., 4: Pleşa, C., Fekete, A., Rajka, G., Buzilă, R., Some data concerning the biodiversity of stygofauna in the River Someşul Cald / Meleg Szamos basin. Tiscia monograph series, Ed. Sarkany-Kiss & Hamar, Târgu-Mures, Pleşa, C., Buzilă, R., Nouvelles donnée sur la biodiversité de la stygofaune. II. Le basin inférieur de la Vallée de Gârda Seaca (Monts Apuseni). Evolution and Adaptation, Cluj- Napoca, 6: Pleşa, C., Iepure, S., La présence de Cyclops prealpinus Kiefer, 1939 (Crustacea, Copepoda) en Roumanie. Trav. Inst. Spéol. Emil Racoviţă, XLVII (2): OTHER PUBLICATIONS 1966 Pleşa, C., Defileul Crişului Repede. Ghid. Itinerare turistice, Edit. Meridiane, 35 pp Ratiu, O., Gergely, I., Boşcaiu, N., Codoreanu, V., Bechet, M., Silaghi, G., Raţiu, F., Lorinczi, F., Peterfi, L.S., Micle, F., Pleşa, C., Nicolau, M., Flora şi vegetaţia rezervaţiei naturale Defileul Crişului Repede, Contrib. Bot. I, Univ. Babeş-Bolyai (Cluj), 272 pp Pleşa, C., Peşteri celebre, Magazin, 1048, 5 noiembrie Pleşa, C., Peştera de la Magura, Edit. Sport-Turism, Buc., 66 pp. Cluj Department Institute of Speleology Emil Racoviţă