Gustavo Mendes de Oliveira Castro, Brazilian biologist (Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro 24 January 1904 – Rio de Janeiro 22 November 1978)

ACHIEVEMENTS

Enunciated law of phylogenesis and succession

Filogenese e sucessão. Anais Acad. Bras. Ciencias 18(2):121-5, 1946

Co-authored with Stanley A. Cain Manual of vegetation analysis (1959), an influent book on phytosociology

With J.M. Pires & N.T. da Silva authored the paper Application of some phytosociological techniques to Brazilian rain forest. Amer. J. Bot. 43(10):911-41, 1956 with great repercussion in this field

METHODS / DEVICES

Um método de análise de populações vegetais. Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz 45(3):572-86, 1947

Developed a staining method for protozoan and bacteria

Developed a staining method for Koch bacilli nodules

Staining nodules of the leprosy bacillus. Lepr.Rev. 18(2-3):45-9, 1947

Emprego da ocular interferencial de Françon no exame de réplicas de material biológico. Rev. Bras. Biol. 21(4):467-70, 1961

Sobre a causa das “cores metálicas” dos olhos dos Tabanidas assim como uma técnica para restabelecer as mesmas em exemplares secos de museus. Jorn. Comm. (1935)

Invented two types of shovels for collecting mosquito larvae samples

Developed Castro aspirator for collecting Diptera 

DESCRIBED DIPTERA TAXA

 Chrysochiton 1936 with Lutz

Culex carcinoxenus 1932 

Esenbeckia arcusta 1935 with Lutz

Laphromyia longipalpis 1937 with Lutz

Limatus flavisetosus 1935 with Lutz

HONORS

Subgenus Castromyia 1942 Mangabeira Filho  (Diptera)

His son, Gustavo de Oliveira Castro, neurophysiologist (Rio de Janeiro 20 May 1931 – 2002)

Authored Branching pattern of amacrine cell processes. Nature 212:832-4, 1966

Described the changes of optical features in avian retina

With H. Martins Ferreira. Light-scattering changes accompanying spreading depression in isolated retina. J. Neurophysiol. 29:715, 1966

Proposed the retina as experimental model of spreading cortical depression

With H. Martins Ferreira. Deformations and thickness variations accompanying spreading depression in the retina. J. Neurophysiol. (1970)

Proposed circling wave for studying the retina model

With C.J. Struchiner. H.M. Ferreira & P.S. Rodrigues. Circling spreading depression in isolated chick retina. J. Neurophysiol. 37:773-84, 1974