Marcus Elieser Bloch

Marcus Elieser Bloch
Portrait by Anton Graff
Born	1723 Ansbach
Died	6 August 1799 Carlsbad
Nationality	German
Scientific career
Fields	Ichthyology Medicine Natural history

Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723–1799) was a German physician and naturalist who is best known for his contribution to ichthyology through his multi-volume catalog of plates illustrating the fishes of the world. Brought up in a Hebrew-speaking Jewish family, he learned German and Latin and studied anatomy before settling in Berlin as a physician. He amassed a large natural history collection, particularly of fish specimens. He is generally considered one of the most important ichthyologists of the 18th century, and wrote many papers on natural history, comparative anatomy, and physiology.