John Gilchrist (zoologist)

John Dow Fisher Gilchrist FRSSAf (1866–1926) was a Scottish ichthyologist, who established ichthyology as a scientific discipline in South Africa.

[2] He studied marine biology in Naples, Monaco and the Isle of Man before returning to teach zoology at the University of Edinburgh.

[citation needed] He held the post of Professor and Director of Fisheries and Marine Biological Survey of South Africa[6] and initiated a marine biological survey in 1897, using the vessel Pieter Faure, which led to the discovery of new stocks of hake near Dassen Island and sole near Mossel Bay.

He was awarded a DSc in 1905 by the University of Edinburgh[12] and was appointed supervisor of marine studies at the South African College.

[2] In 1907, the post of Government Biologist was abolished but Gilchrist continued to play an important role in the Department of Agriculture's marine survey as Chairman of the Fishery Advisory Board.

As fisheries advisor to the Cape Provincial Administration he compiled four Marine Biological Reports covering activities during the years 1912 to 1917.

[2][7] Gilchrist resigned his position in December 1910, when a full-time curator of marine collections was appointed under the Union of South Africa.

Together with his assistant, W.W. Thompson, Gilchrist published a comprehensive Catalogue of the sea fishes recorded from Natal in the Annals of the Durban Museum[13] In 1918 he described a new genus of crawling medusa and investigated trematode parasites.

In 1908 when the Royal Society of South Africa was founded, Gilchrist was elected a foundation Fellow and served on its council (1908-1910) and as president(1918-1922).

He and Cecil von Bonde wrote Dissection of the platana and the frog (Cape Town, 1919) and Practical zoology for medical and junior students (Edinburgh 1922).