John Richard Paxton

K.R. Allen Award Winner 1999

If there is a single ichthyologist known to nearly every member of ASFB, it must be John Paxton.  John was one of the founders of ASFB, and served as President of the Society early in its history.  John may well have attended more Annual Conferences than any other active ASFB member.  Importantly, John Paxton is winner of the coveted Donald Francois Award for his contributions at an Annual Conference, and probably would have been a multiple award winner if the Francois Award had been established earlier.   

John makes up in professional stature and projection what he may somewhat lack in physical stature.  He has spent his entire post-student career at the Australian Museum, initially as Curator of Fishes from 1968, and then, as job titles and structures changed, moving up to Principal Research Scientist at the time of his 'retirement' in 1998.  He is currently a Senior Fellow at the Australian Museum, where he continues his research on deep-sea fishes.  John was hired by Frank Talbot, who moved to the Directorship of the Australian Museum only a year after succeeding Gilbert Whitley as Curator of Fishes.  Gilbert was one of the pioneers of Australian ichthyology, describing over 450 species and a similar number of new genera, and John speaks fondly of Gilbert’s extensive knowledge of fishes, and his willingness to help this new arrival from California to come to grips with the awesome Aussie fish fauna.

John is a native of Los Angeles who fled to Australia and became a new Australian after completing his BA in Zoology (1960), MSc in Biology (1965) and PhD in Biological Sciences (1968) at the University of Southern California.  He studied under Professor Jay Savage , whose lab produced a number of prominent ichthyologists and herpetologists during the 1960s.  John specialized during his graduate studies on meso- and bathypelagic fishes, an interest that has carried through to the present.  

However, John recognized that as the Curator of Fishes at the largest Natural History Museum in the Southern Hemisphere, he had a responsibility much wider than his own personal research agenda.  He set about reorganizing the Australian Museum fish collection, and bringing it into the modern era.  He also set about a vigorous collecting program, not only of deep-sea fishes, but also coastal, estuarine and fresh-water species.  In this, he was joined at the Museum in 1971 by Doug Hoese, who had recently completed his PhD at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.  As a result, the fish collection increased from about 80,000 specimens at John's arrival to over 1,000,000 – by far, the largest fish collection in Australia - when he retired.  The Australian Museum now has the third largest type collection of marine fishes in the world.  In 1979, a third research ichthyologist – Jeff Leis – arrived at the Museum.  This was truly the golden era of ichthyology at the Australian Museum, with a number of other well-known fish contributors being members of the staff during John’s tenure, including Gerry Allen, Helen Larson, Barry Russell, Dianne Bray, Denise Rennis, Mark McGrouther, Sally Reader, Tom Trnski, Brooke Carson-Ewart, John Pogonoski, Alastair Graham and Amanda Hay.  John initiated and maintained contacts with ichthyologists all over the world, and made it a priority to make the valuable specimens in his care available to other researchers, both as loans and during their visits to the Museum.  John has always encouraged the use of the Australian Museum fish collection.  He taught a popular ichthyology course at Macquarie University in the 1970s that inspired a number of students to pursue a career in fish biology, and he has supervised 1 BSc (hons), 3 MSc, and 4 PhD students. In addition, he encouraged and helped many Australian fish workers, and continues to collaborate widely.  In 1981, John and Doug Hoese established the Indo-Pacific Fish Conference (IPFC), and this series of important, international conferences continues at 4-year intervals, with the 9th IPFC taking place in Okinawa in 2013.  Amongst those who have attended an IPFC, it is known as the best fish conference series in the world.  John truly internationalized taxonomic ichthyology in Australia. 

John has so far published over 100 scientific papers, including a major book – Encyclopaedia of Fishes (in two editions) – see publication list, below.  Most people know him for his work on myctophid lanternfishes, and he is about to complete a massive publication on the myctophids of Australia with Alan Williams.  But, John is also the world’s expert on the small, robust, large-mouthed, deep-sea Whale Fishes, which he personifies.  He recently was a leading member of an international team that discovered what were always considered three separate families – Cetomimidae, Megalomycteridae, and Mirapinnidae – are in fact, the females, males and larvae, respectively of the one whalefish family, now known as Cetomimidae.  Another milestone was the Catalogue of Australian Fishes, that was co-authored by a team consisting of John, Doug Hoese, Gerry Allen, Dianne Bray and Jenny Hadley.  We now know that there are over 5000 species of fishes in Australian waters, perhaps the largest national fish fauna in the world.  It is a little appreciated fact, that despite Australia being the driest inhabited continent, fishes constitute over 75% of our vertebrate species.  In fact, the rate of discovery of fish species new to the Australian fauna has averaged about one per week for several decades, and John has played a major role in these discoveries.  John has so far described 16 new species, and nine new genera (Table 1).  Eighteen species and one genus are named in his honour (Table 1), and in most cases, John had collected most or all of the specimens from which others described these new species – with his help and encouragement.

 John has also made major contributions to fish conservation, especially sharks, having served for five years as Deputy Chair of the NSW Fisheries Scientific Committee, a group that for many years evaluated the threats to aquatic fauna in the State, and made recommendations to the Fisheries Minister on the status of NSW aquatic species and ecosystems.  

As one of the leading ichthyologists in Australia, John has always been sought out for advice and information on our fishes by students, other researchers, governments, the public and the media, and has always been generous with his time and expertise.  This continues in retirement, as does his passion for birdwatching.

In addition to the Francois Award, the Society has recognized John by making him a honorary life member in 1991, and most importantly, by bestowing upon him the second K Radway Allen Award in 1997 – its highest honour - for his “outstanding contributions in fish or fisheries science”.  His many accomplishments since his award are proof that the Award Committee got it right.    John truly belongs in the Australian Society for Fish Biology Hall of Fame.  In addition, John has received a number of overseas honours, including: Stoye Prize and Honorary Foreign Membership from the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists; Honorary Membership from the Ichthyological Society of China; Honorary Membership from the Ichthyological Society of Japan; and Allan Hancock Fellowship from the University of Southern California.

A list of John’s publications to date is attached, but keep your eyes open, for there will surely be more to come.
With thanks to Mark McGrouther and Amanda Hay

Jeff Leis
Australian Museum, Sydney and 
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania

Publications of John R Paxton, 1963 to April 2013

Paxton, J. R. (1963). A new species of lanternfish (family Myctophidae) of the genus Lampadena from the eastern Pacific Ocean. Copeia 1963, 28-31, figs. l-23.
Paxton, J. R. (1967a). A distributional analysis for the lanternfishes (family Myctophidae) of the San Pedro Basin, California. Copeia 1967, 422-440.
Paxton, J. R. (1967b). Biological notes on southern California lanternfishes (family Myctophidae). J. Calif. Fish Game 53, 214-217.
Nafpaktitis, B. G. & Paxton, J. R. (1968). Review of the lanternfish genus Lampadena with a description of a new species. Los Angeles Co. Mus. Nat. Hist. Contrib. Sci. 138, 1-29.
Paxton, J. R. (1968). Fishes of the oceanic midwaters. Australian Natural History 16, 71-76.
Paxton, J. R. & Griffin, D. J. G. (1969). More on type specimens. Kalori (J. Aust. Mus. Assoc.) 37, 13-15.
Paxton, J. R. (1971). Small submarine aids research. Australian Natural History 17, 112.
Graham, P. H., Paxton, J. R. & Cho, K. Y. (1972). Characterisation of luminescent bacteria from the light organs of the Australian pine cone fish (Cleidopus gloriamaris). Arch. Microbiol. 81, 305-308.
Paxton, J. R. (1972a). Osteology and relationships of the lanternfishes (family Myctophidae). Los Angeles Co. Mus. Nat. Hist. Sci. Bull. 13, 1-81.
Paxton, J. R. (1972b). Bioluminescence in the Australian monocentrid fish Cleidopus gloriamaris. In Oceanography of the South Pacific (Fraser, R., ed.), p. 521. Wellington: UNESCO.
Recher, H. F., Paxton, J. R. & Clark, S. S. (1972). To grow or not to grow. Search 3, 5.
Paxton, J. R. (1973). Families Mirapinnidae, Eutaeniophoridae, Cetomimidae and Ateleopodidae. In Checklist of the Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and of the Mediterranean (Hureau, J. C. & Monod, T., eds.), pp. 212-215. Paris: UNESCO.
Paxton, J. R. & Lavenberg, R. J. (1973). Feeding mortality in a deepsea angler fish (Diceratias bispinosus) due to a macrourid fish (Ventrifossa sp.). Australian Zoologist 18, 47-51.
Allen, G. R. & Paxton, J. R. (1974). Lord Howe Island, a tropical outpost in the South Pacific. Australian Natural History 18, 50-55.
Paxton, J. R. (1974a). Myctophid fish recorded from New Zealand as Lampanyctus guentheri reidentified as L. australis. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 8, 711-712.
Paxton, J. R. (1974b). Morphology and distribution patterns of the whalefishes of the family Rondeletiidae. In Symposium on the Indian Ocean and adjacent seas (Silas, G., ed.), pp. 175-188: J. Mar. Biol. Ass. India.
Dooley, J. K. & Paxton, J. R. (1975). A new species of tilefish (family Branchiostegidae) from Eastern Australia. Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W 99, 151-156.
Paxton, J. R. (1975a). Heraldia nocturna, a new genus and species of pipefish (family Syngnathidae) from eastern Australia with comments on Maroubra perserrata Whitley. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci 40, 439-447.
Paxton, J. R. & Collett, L. C. (1975). Are fishes returning to the Parramatta River? Fisherman (J. N.S.W. State Fish.) 5, 1-6.
Paxton, J. R. & Hoese, D. F. (1975). Gilbert P. Whitley, obituary. Copeia 1975, 792-793.
Allen, G. R., Hoese, D. F., Paxton, J. R., Randall, J. E., Russell, B. C., Starck, W. A., Talbot, F. H. & Whitley, G. P. (1976). An annotated checklist of the fishes of Lord Howe Island. Records of the Australian Museum 30, 365-454.
Nakamura, I. & Paxton, J. R. (1977). A juvenile gempylid fish, Nealotus tripes, from eastern Australia. Aust. Zool. 19, 179-184.
Paxton, J. R. (1977). Fishes, and 194 associated entries. In The Australian Encyclopedia, (Pratt, B., ed.). Sydney: Grolier.
Nafpaktitis, B. G. & Paxton, J. R. (1978). Idiolychnus, a new  genus of Myctophidae based on Diaphus urolampus. Copeia 1978, 492-497.
Paxton, J. R. (1979a). Life in the world's ocean. In Reader's Digest Library of Essential Knowledge, pp. 406-407.
Paxton, J. R. (1979b). Nominal genera and species of lanternfishes (family Myctophidae). Los Angeles Co. Mus. Nat. Hist. Contrib. Sci. 322, 1-28.
Tyler, J. C. & Paxton, J. R. (1979). New genus and species of pufferfish (Tetraodontidae) from Norfolk Island, southwest Pacific. Bulletin of Marine Science 29, 202-215.
Paxton, J. R. (1980). Introduction. In Handbook of Australian Fishes (Whitley, G. P., ed.), pp. 1-2. Sydney: Jack Pollard.
Paxton, J. R. (1981). Ichthyological expedition to Lord Howe Island. In Nat. Geogr. Soc. Res. Repts, pp. 599-602.
Paxton, J. R. & Hoese, D. F. (1981). Fish. In Lord Howe Island, a summary of current and projected scientific and environmental activities (Recher, H. F. & Ponder, W. F., eds.), p. 25: Occ. Rept. Aust. Mus.
Ayling, A. M. & Paxton, J. R. (1983). Odax cyanoallix, a new species of odacid fish from northern New Zealand. Copeia 1983, 95-101.
Castle, P. H. J. & Paxton, J. R. (1984). A new genus and species of luminescent eel (Pisces: Congridae) from the Arafura Sea, northern Australia. Copeia 1984, 72-81.
Moser, H. G., Ahlstrom, E. H. & Paxton, J. R. (1984). Myctophidae: development. In Ontogeny and Systematics of Fishes. (Moser, H. G., Richards, W. J., Cohen, D. M., Fahay, M. P., Kendall, A. W. & Richardson, S. L., eds.), pp. 2l8-239: Amer. Soc. Ichth. Herp. Spec. Publ. l.
Paxton, J. R. (1984). Family Monocentridae. In FAO Species Identification Sheets, Western Indian Ocean (Fishing Area 51) (Fischer, W. & Bianchi, G., eds.). Rome: FAO.
Paxton, J. R., Ahlstrom, E. H. & Moser, H. G. (1984). Myctophidae: relationships. In Ontogeny and Systematics of Fishes. (Moser, H. G., Richards, W. J., Cohen, D. M., Fahay, M. P., Kendall, A. W. & Richardson, S. L., eds.), pp. 239-244: Amer. Soc. Ichth. Herp. Spec. Publ. l.
Stevens, J. D. & Paxton, J. R. (1984). Goblins again (letter to the editor). Aust. Fish 43.
Paxton, J. R. & Hoese, D. F. (1985). The Japanese sea bass, Lateolabrax japonicus (Pisces, Percichthyidae), an apparent marine introduction into eastern Australia. Japanese Journal of Ichthyology 31, 369-372.
Stevens, J. D. & Paxton, J. R. (1985). A new record of the goblin shark, Mitsukurina owstoni (family Mitsukurinidae), from eastern Australia. Proc. Linn. Soc. NSW 108, 37-45.
Gomon, M. F. & Paxton, J. R. (1986). A revision of the Odacidae, a temperate Australian-New Zealand labroid fish family. Indo-Pacif. Fishes 8, 1-57.
Paxton, J. R. & Bray, D. J. (1986). Order Cetomimiformes, families Cetomimidae, Rondeletiidae and Barbourisiidae. In Smiths' Sea Fishes (Smith, M. M. & Heemstra, P. C., eds.), pp. 433-434. Johannesburg: Macmillan.
Paxton, J. R. (1986). Families Cetomimidae, Rondeletiidae and Ateleopodidae. In Fishes of the Northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean (Whitehead, P. J. P., Bauchot, M. L., Hureau, J.-C., Nielsen, J. & Tortonese, E., eds.), pp. 524-529. Paris: UNESCO.
Yang, Y. R., Zeng, B. G. & Paxton, J. R. (1988). Additional specimens of the deepsea fish Hispidoberyx ambagiosus (Hispidoberycidae, Beryciformes) from the South China Sea, with comments on the family relationships. UO (Japanese Society of Ichthyology) 38, 3-8.
Balushkin, A. V., Fedorov, V. V. & Paxton, J. R. (1989). A new genus and species of whalefish Notocetichthys trunovi gen et sp  nov  (Cetomimidae) from the Lazarev Sea, Antarctica. Vopr. Ikhtiol. 29, 155-157.
Paxton, J. R. (1989a). Synopsis of the whalefishes (family Cetomimidae) with descriptions of four new genera. Records of the Australian Museum 41, 135-206.
Paxton, J. R., Hoese, D. F., Allen, G. R. & Hanley, J. E. (1989). Pisces Petromyzontidae to Carangidae. Zoological Catalogue of Australia Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Survey.
Paxton, J. R. (1989b). Fishes. In The Hunter Sketchbook (Calaby, J., ed.), pp. 162-182. Canberra: Australian National Library.
Parin, N. V. & Paxton, J. R. (1990). Know your catch, Australia's east coast gemfish. Australian Fisheries 49, suppl. 5.
Paxton, J. R. (1990a). Whalefishes: little fish with big mouths. Aust. Nat. Hist. 23, 378-385.
Paxton, J. R. (1990b). Proposed introduction of exotic fishes into the Sepik River, Papua New Guinea: potential problems. In Aust. Soc. Fish. Biol. Wkshop. Introd. Transloc. Fishes, Proc. Bur. Rur. Resour., pp. 158-161.
Paxton, J. R. (1990c). Wanted dead or alive. Australian Fisheries 49, 32-37.
Paxton, J. R. & Gon, O. (1990). Cetomimidae, whalefishes. In Fishes of the Southern Ocean (Gon, O. & Heemstra, P. C., eds.), pp. 222-225. Grahamstown: J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology.
Paxton, J. R. & Blake, D. J. (1990). Families Barbourisiidae, Cetomimidae and Rondeletiidae. In Checklist of the Fishes of the Eastern Tropical Atlantic (Quero, J. C. & al, e., eds.), pp. 606-609. Paris: UNESCO.
Paxton, J. R. & Leis, J. M. (1991). Comment on the need for stability in fish family-group names. Bull. Zool. Nomencl. 46, 250-251.
Paxton, J. R. & McGrouther, M. (1991). Why so many specimens? Muse (Australian Museum News & Events) Aug -Sept. 4, 11.
Paxton, J. R. (1991a). Foreward. In The Complete Illustrated Guide to Fish (Pollard, J., ed.), pp. v-vi. Sydney: Bantam Books.
Paxton, J. R. (1991b). Fishes of the deep sea. In The Encyclopedia of the Earth, Oceans and Islands (Talbot, F. H. & Stevenson, R. H., eds.), pp. 76-77. New York: Weldon Owen.
Stevens, J. D. & Paxton, J. R. (1992). Shark attack: but who's the victim? Australian Natural History 24, 46-53.
Allen, G. R., Paxton, J. R. & Kuiter, R. (1993). Close encounters of the fourth kind, invaders from inner space. Aqua Geographia 4, 82-87.
Leis, J. M. & Paxton, J. R. (1993). Book Review: "Common and Scientific Names of Fishes from the United States and Canada" by C.R. Robins, R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea and W.B. Scott. Copeia 1993, 245-248.
Paxton, J. R. (1993). Protective beach meshing summary. In Conservation Workshop, Sharks Down Under Conference (Pepperell, J., West, J. & Woon, P., eds.), pp. 130-132. Sydney: Zoological Parks Board.
Paxton, J. R. (1994a). Gulf of Oman lanternfish fisheries research, recommendations on general research plan.  FAO Working Group on Mesopelagic Resources, Gulfs Committee for Fisheries Management and Development, Working Paper WGM 94/4: 1-2.
Paxton, J. R. & Eschmeyer, W. N., eds. (1994). Encyclopedia of Fishes. Sydney: New South Wales University Press; San Diego: Academic Press [1995]. Pp. 240. (Also editions in French, German, Italian, Polish and Spanish).
Paxton, J. R. (1994b). Families Sternoptychidae, Photichthyidae, Gonostomatidae, Neoscopelidae, Myctophidae. In The Fishes of Australia's South Coast (Gomon, M. F., Glover, C. J. M. & Kuiter, R., eds.), pp. 246-251; 275-279. Adelaide: SA Press.
Nafpaktitis, B. G., Robertson, D. A. & Paxton, J. R. (1995). Four new species of the lanternfish genus Diaphus (Myctophidae) from the Indo-Pacific. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 29, 335-344.
Paxton, J. R. (1995a). Seahorses - frogs of the sea? In Van Gogh's Ear (University of Newcastle Magazine).
Paxton, J. R., Lavenberg, R. J. & Sommer, C. (1995). Myctophidae, linternillas. In Guia FAO para la Identification de Especies para los Fines de la Pesca Pacifico Centro-Oriental (Fischer, W. & al, e., eds.), pp. 1315-1321. Rome: FAO.
Paxton, J. R. (1995b). Cetomimidae, Rondeletiidae, Megalomycteridae, Ateleopididae. In Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean (Hureau, J. C. & al, e., eds.), p. 12. Amsterdam: UNESCO, ETI, CD-ROM edition.
Williams, A., Last, P. R., Gomon, M. F. & Paxton, J. R. (1996). Species composition and checklist of the demersal ichthyofauna of the continental slope off Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 18, 135-155.
Baldwin, C. C., Johnson, G. D. & Paxton, J. R. (1997). Protoblepharon rosenblatti, a new genus of flashlight fish (Beryciformes: Anomalopidae) from the tropical South Pacific, with comments on anomalopid phylogeny. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 110, 373-383.
Colgan, D. J. & Paxton, J. R. (1997). Biochemical genetics and recognition of a western stock of the common gemfish, Rexea solandri (Scombroidei: Gempylidae), in Australia. Marine and Freshwater Research 48, 103-118.
Koslow, J. A., Williams, A. & Paxton, J. R. (1997). How many demersal fish species in the deep sea? A test of a method to extrapolate from local to global diversity. Biodiversity and Conservation 6, 1523-1532.
Paxton, J. R. (1997). Activity report. Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, CIC [Center for International Cooperation] Newsletter, 1(1): 11.
Paxton, J. R. & McGrouther, M. (1997). A history of the fish collection at the Australian Museum (1860-1968), with a summary of current Australian fish collections. In Collection Building in Ichthyology and Herpetology (Pietsch, T. W. & Anderson, W., eds.), pp. 183-205: Special Publication American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.
Paxton, J. R. & Eschmeyer, W. N., eds. (1998). Encyclopedia of Fishes, 2nd Edition. San Diego: Academic Press.
Fernholm, B. & Paxton, J. R. (1999). Myxinidae. In The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific (Carpenter, K. E. & Niem, V. H., eds.), pp. 1191-1192. Rome: FAO.
Carpenter, K. E. & Paxton, J. R. (1999). The future of systematic ichthyological research in the tropical Indo-Pacific. In Proceedings of the 5th Indo-Pacific Fish Conference (Nouméa, 3-8 November 1997) (Séret, B. & Sire, J.-Y., eds.), pp. 683-693. Paris: Société Française d'Ichtyologie & Institut de Recherche pour le Développement.
Moore, J. A. & Paxton, J. R. (1999). Melamphaidae; Trachichthyidae. In The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific (Carpenter, K. E. & Niem, V. H., eds.), pp. 2201-2202; 2215-2217. Rome: FAO.
Paxton, J. R. & West, J. (1999). Likelihood of Shark Attack in Sydney Harbour during the Sept. 2000 Olympic Games. Final Report to SOCOG, Australian Museum Business Services, pp. i-iv, 1-29. 
Paxton, J. R. (1999a). Polymixiidae, Gibberichthyidae, Rondeletiidae, Barbourisiidae, Cetomimidae, Mirapinnidae, Megalomycteridae, Anoplogasteridae, Diretmidae, Monocentrididae, Berycidae. In The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific (Carpenter, K. E. & Niem, V. H., eds.), pp. 2203-2211, 2214, 2218-2224. Rome: FAO.
Paxton, J. R. (1999b). Aulopidae, Chlorophthalmidae, Ipnopidae, Scopelarchidae, Notosudidae, Paralepididae, Anotopteridae, Evermannellidae, Omosudidae, Alepisauridae Giganturidae, Neoscopelidae, Myctophidae, Anomalopidae. In The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific (Carpenter, K. E. & Niem, V. H., eds.), pp. 1921-1927, 1948-1954, 1955-1965, 2212-2213. Rome: FAO.
Paxton, J. R. & Cohen, D. M. (1999). Argentinidae, Bathylagidae, Microstomatidae, Opisthoproctidae. In The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific (Carpenter, K. E. & Niem, V. H., eds.), pp. 1884-1886. Rome: FAO.
Colgan, D. C., Zhang, C.-G. & Paxton, J. R. (2000). Phylogenetic investigations of the Stephanoberyciformes and Beryciformes, particularly whalefishes (Euteleostei: Cetomimidae), based on partial 12S rDNA and 16S rDNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 17, 15-25.
Karmovskaya, E. S. & Paxton, J. R. (2000). Revision of the Australian congrid eels of the genus Gnathophis (family Congridae), with descriptions of six new species. Journal of Ichthyology 40, S1-S14.
Paxton, J. R. (2000a). Fish otoliths: do sizes correlate with taxonomic group, habitat, and/or luminescence? . In Sensory Processing of the Aquatic Environment. (Collin, S. P. & Marshall, N. J., eds.), pp. 1299-1303: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, series B Biological Sciences.
Paxton, J. R. (2000b). Myxini, Giganturidae, Aulopidae, Chlorophthalmidae, Ipnopidae, Scopelarchidae, Notosudidae, Paralepididae, Evermannellidae, Omosudidae, Alepisauridae, Polymixiidae, Gibberichthyidae, Hispidoberycidae, Cetomimiformes, Anoplogasteridae, Diretmidae, Berycidae, Bathyclupeidae, Chiasmodontidae, Argentinidae, Microstomatidae, Opisthoproctidae. Myctophiformes, Anomalopidae, Melamphaidae, Trachichthyidae. In A checklist of the fishes of the South China Sea. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Supplement 8 (Lim, K. & Randall, J. E., eds.), pp. 577, 589-590, 591, 592-594, 600, 601, 602, 623, 630.
Mooi, R. D. & Paxton, J. R. (2001). Chiasmodontidae. In The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific (Carpenter, K. E. & Niem, V. H., eds.), pp. 3495-3496. Rome: FAO.
Paxton, J. R., Johnson, G. D. & Trnski, T. (2001). Larvae and juveniles of the deepsea ‘whalefishes’ Barbourisia and Rondeletia (Stephanoberyciformes: Barbourisiidae, Rondeletiidae) with comments on family relationships. Records of the Australian Museum 53, 407-425.
Paxton, J. R. (2001). Caristiidae, Bathyclupeidae. In The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific (Carpenter, K. E. & Niem, V. H., eds.), pp. 2837, 3211. Rome: FAO.
Paxton, J. R. & McGrouther, M. (2002). Status of Australian fish taxonomy and fish collections, databases and networks. In Proceedings of Species 2000 Asia Oceania Joint Forum: Taxonomy Initiatives for Biodiversity Conservation in an IT Era (Shimura, J., Wilson, K. L. & Gordon, D., eds.), pp. 211-219. Tokyo, January 2001: National Institute for Environmental Studies Japan Research Report.
Pogonoski, J. J., Pollard, D. A. & Paxton, J. R. (2002). Conservation Overview and Action Plan for Australian Threatened and Potentially Threatened Marine and Estuarine Fishes. Canberra: Environment Australia. Pp. 375; CD-ROM; URL: http://www.ea.gov.au/coasts/species/marine-ish/index.html.
Paxton, J. R. (2003a). Shark nets in the spotlight. Nature Australia 27, 84.
Paxton, J. R. (2003b). Families Barbourisiidae, Cetomimidae, Mirapinnidae, Rondeletiidae, Megalomycteridae, Bathyclupeidae. In The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Atlantic (Carpenter, K. E., ed.), pp. 1168-1169, 1170-1175, 1176-1177, 1662. Rome: FAO and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.
Paxton, J. R. (2003c). Identification of threatened species from regional faunas: examples from Australian marine fishes. In Global Taxonomy Initiative in Asia. (Shimura, J., ed.), pp. 259-261: National Institute for Environmental Studies Japan Research Report.
Paxton, J. R. & Johnson, G. D. (2005). Rondeletiidae: Redmouth whalefishes; Barbourisiidae: Redvelvet whalefish; Cetomimidae: Whalefishes; Mirapinnidae: Tapetails & Hairyfish; Megalomycteridae: Bignose fishes. In Early Stages of Atlantic Fishes. An identification guide for the Western Central North Atlantic (Richards, W. J., ed.), pp. 1079-1102. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Hoese, D. F., Bray, D. J., Paxton, J. R & Allen, G. R. &. (2006). Fishes. Zoological Catalogue of Australia (Australian Biological Resources Study & CSIRO Publishing) 35, Part 1, pp. xxiv, 1-670; Part 2, 671-1472; Part 3, 1473-2178.
Paxton, J. R. (2006). Sharks in crisis. Explore (Aus. Mus. Mag.) 29, 6-9.
Paxton, J. R. & West, J. (2006). N.S.W. shark attack records: monthly analyses from shark meshing areas (greater Sydney, Newcastle, central coast, Wollongong). In Scientific Shark Protection Summit Report, 10 April 2006. Sydney: NSW Dept. Primary Industries (Anon, ed.), pp. 43-55.
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