Robert Gurney

For the British writer, seeRobert Edward Gurney.

Robert Gurney
Born	(1879-07-31)31 July 1879
Died	(1950-03-05)5 March 1950
Nationality	British
Alma mater	University of Oxford
Spouse(s)	Gamzu Gurney, née Garstang
Scientific career
Fields	Zoology,particularlycrustaceans

Robert Gurney(31 July 1879 – 5 March 1950) was a Britishzoologistfrom theGurney family,most famous for his monographs onBritish Freshwater Copepoda(1931–1933) and theLarvae of Decapod Crustacea(1942). He was not affiliated with any institution, but worked at home, initially inNorfolk,and later nearOxford.He travelled to North Africa andBermuda,and received material from other foreign expeditions, including theTerra NovaExpedition(1910–1913) and theDiscovery Investigationsof the 1920s and 1930s.

Biography

Robert Gurney was born in 1879 as the fourth son ofJohn Gurney (1845–1887)andIsabel Charlotte Gurney(laterBaroness Talbot de Malahide) ofSprowstonHall,Norfolk.He went to school atEton College,and went on to study atNew College, Oxford,graduating withfirst class honoursin 1902.He was awarded a D.Sc. by the University of Oxford in 1927.He was never associated with any institution, but worked from his home, initially nearStalham,Norfolk, but from 1928 atBoars Hill,outsideOxford.He became a lifelong friend ofWalter Garstangafter the two men met while Garstang was running Easter Classes atPlymouth,which Gurney was attending as an undergraduate. Gurney went on to marry Garstang's sister, Gamzu (1878–1972).Later, Garstang's daughter marriedAlister Hardy,strengthening Gurney's connections with zoology.

Robert and Gamzu had one child,Oliver Gurney(1911-2001), who became a leadingAssyriologistandHittitologist.

Scientific work

Gurney's first scientific work was apaperonmetamorphosisin the crabCorystes cassivelaunus,which he published in 1902 while still anundergraduateat theUniversity of Oxford.Two more papers ondecapodsappeared in 1903, and 1904 saw his first paper onfreshwatercopepods.Realising the need for a specialistfield stationforfreshwater biologyto match themarine biological stationsatPlymouth(Marine Biological Association) andNaples(Stazione Zoologica), Robert and his brother Eustace (laterLord MayorofNorwich) set up Great Britain's first freshwater laboratory atSutton Broad.This station did not survive theFirst World War,but Gurney was later among the founders of theFreshwater Biological Association,which set up the field station onWindermere.

Gurney's two great study objects were theCopepodaand thelarvaeofDecapoda,and his greatest works were the three-volumemonographBritish Freshwater Copepoda,published by theRay Societyin 1931–1933, and hisLarvae of Decapod Crustaceapublished by the Ray Society in 1942.Perhaps through the influence of Garstang, Gurney rejectedErnst Haeckel'sbiogenetic law(that "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" ), preferring Garstang's concept ofpaedomorphosisas an explanation for the similarities between copepods and decapod larvae.Gurney was, however, very tentative in his speculations.

Expeditions

Gurney took part in several expeditions, including one to North Africa in 1906, and theCambridge UniversitySuez Expeditionin 1924.He also worked on material collected by other expeditions, including theTerra NovaExpedition(1910–1913), theDiscovery Investigations(1920s and 1930s) and theGreat Barrier Reef Expeditionof 1928–1929.Gurney returned to theRed Sea,visiting the marine laboratory atHurghadain 1936, and visitedBermudatwice: once with Walter Garstang in 1935, and once with both Garstang andMarie V. Lebourin 1938.

Honours

A number of organisms are named in honour of Robert Gurney:

• RobertgurneyaLang, 1948(Copepoda: Diosaccidae)
• Tisbe gurneyi(Lang, 1934)(Copepoda: Tisbidae)
• Leptocaris gurneyi(Nicholls, 1944)(Copepoda: Darcythompsoniidae)
• Harpacticus gurneyiJakubisiak, 1933(Copepoda Harpactidae)
• Kelleria gurneyiSewell, 1949(Copepoda: Kelleriidae)
• Diarthrodes gurneyiLang, 1948(Copepoda: Thalestridae)
• Nikoides gurneyiHayashi, 1975(Decapoda: Processidae)
• Saccoglossus guerneyi(Robinson, 1927)(Hemichordata: Enteropneusta)

Further reading

• Robert Gurney (1942).Larvae of Decapod Crustacea(PDF).Ray Society.
• William Thomas Calman(1950)."Dr. Robert Gurney".Nature.162(4198): 587–588.doi:10.1038/165587b0.PMID15416704.