Theodore Edward Cantor () (1809âÂÂ1860) was a Danish physician, zoologist and botanist. He described several new species of reptiles and amphibians, and six species have been named in his honor.
Cantor was born to a Danish Jewish family; his mother was a sister of Nathaniel Wallich. Cantor worked for the British East India Company, and made natural history collections in Penang and Malacca.
Cantor was the first Western scientist to describe the Siamese fighting fish. In the scientific field of herpetology he described many new species of reptiles and amphibians. Species first described by Cantor include Bungarus bungaroides (1839), Bungarus lividus (1839), Channa argus (1842), Elaphe rufodorsata (1842), Euprepiophis mandarinus (1842), Hippocampus comes (1850), Lycodon effraenis (1847), Misgurnus anguillicaudatus (1842), Naja atra (1842), Oligodon albocinctus (1839), Oligodon cyclurus (1839), Ophiophagus hannah (1836), Oreocryptophis porphyracea (1839), Pareas monticola (1839), Protobothrops mucrosquamatus (1839), Ptyas dhumnades (1842), and Trimeresurus erythrurus (1839).
The snake genus Cantoria with the type species Cantoria violacea (Cantor's water snake) is named in Cantor's honour, as are Acanthodactylus cantoris (Indian fringe-fingered lizard), Elaphe cantoris (eastern trinket snake), Hydrophis cantoris (Cantor's small-headed sea snake), Pelochelys cantorii (Cantor's giant softshell turtle), and Trimeresurus cantori (Cantor's pit viper).
A bequest made by Cantor to the Society of Arts in London was applied to the founding of a lecture series on industrial applications of science. It began with talks in 1863, and became known as the Cantor Lectures.