Nedumangattu Kesava Panikkar (1913–1977[1]) was an Indian zoologist, a former director of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute,[2] a former adviser to the Government of India on fishery development and a former vice chancellor of the Cochin University of Science and Technology.

His father was a Headmaster of a Government High School in Travancore State.

A doctoral degree (DSc) holder from the University of Madras, he was reported to have undertaken research on marine organisms,[5] conducted 22 voyages in the Indian Ocean for collecting specimens[6][7] and credited with the compilation of a series of atlases.

[3] He served as the Head of the Zoology Department at University College, Thiruvananthapuram, as the director of the Zoological Laboratory at the University of Madras, as the Officer on Special Duty at the Ministry of Agriculture (India), as the director of the International Indian Ocean Expedition, as the director of the National Institute of Oceanography and as a member of the National Commission on Agriculture.

[3] Panikkar was an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, Royal Society of Arts, London, National Academy of Sciences, India[8] and Indian Geophysical Union.