John H. Day

John Day received his BSc from Rhodes University in 1931, his PhD from the University of Liverpool and subsequently lectured at Durham University. In 1938 he was appointed as research assistant to Professor T. A. Stephenson in the Zoology Department of the University of Cape Town.^[1]

During World War 2 he joined the Royal Air Force and become squadron leader in Bomber Command. He lost a leg after a bombing raid and received the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) and bar.^[2]

Following the War, John Day returned to the University of Cape Town and in 1947 was appointed head of the Zoology Department, a position he held until his retirement in 1974.^[3] He was a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London and Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa.^[4] In 1967 John Day published his two volume Monograph on the Polychaeta of Southern Africa,^[5][6] and this publication is still a widely used identification tool to the major groups of these common and diverse marine worms. He also authored books on South African marine life ^[7] and on estuarine ecology in South Africa ^[8] as well as numerous journal articles.

John Day described 190 species of polychaetes .

Simon, Carol A.; van Niekerk, H. Helene (2012). "A brief history of John Day". A guide to the shell-infesting spionids of South Africa. Retrieved 28 August 2019.

Wilson, Robin S. (26 September 2019). "A Day for Worms on BHL". Biodiversity Heritage Library. Retrieved 29 July 2019.