Robert C. Murdoch (3 February 1861 in Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia – 11 November 1923 Iredale, T. (1925). "R. Murdoch". ''The Nautilus'' 39(2)
69
70.2400 years of malacology at
/ref>) was a malacologist in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Biography

He received a secondary-school education, and afterwards travelled widely with Captain Shuttleworth, of

Wanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

. He spent some years subsequent to 1888 in farming near Wanganui, but in 1892 he went to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and studied Mollusca with Mr. Charles Hedley. Soon afterwards he entered commercial life, which he followed until his death on 11 November 1923. He had a kind and sympathetic nature and it gained for him a multitude of friends throughout the country.

Scientific work

For many years Murdoch devoted all of his spare time to the study of the New Zealand Mollusca. He was several times a contributor to ''Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute'' and to the '' Journal of the Malacological Society''. At the time of his sudden and unexpected death, he had arranged to give up business life and devote himself solely to research. During a visit to England about 1914, his important and extensive collections, which included several

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...

s of New Zealand Mollusca, were destroyed in a fire. Murdoch was unmarried, and was well known as a prominent

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

. Murdoch cooperated with the geologist

Patrick Marshall Patrick Marshall (1869 – November 1950) was a geologist who lived in New Zealand. Benson W. N. (1951). "Patrick Marshall". ''Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand'' 79''152–155 Early life Marshall was born on 22 ...

on fossil molluscs. The generic name '' Murdochia'' is in honor of him. He formally named and described some species of

sea snail Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the ...

s, marine gastropods, including: * ''

Peculator hedleyi ''Peculator hedleyi'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Volutomitridae, the mitres. MolluscaBase eds. (2023). MolluscaBase. Peculator hedleyi (Murdoch, 1905). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species a ...

'' (Murdoch, 1905) * ''

Acirsa subcarinata ''Acirsa subcarinata'' is a species of minute deep water sea snail or micromollusk. It is a wentletrap in the family Epitoniidae, a marine gastropod mollusk. This species is distributed along New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) ...

'' (Murdoch &

Suter Suter is a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Alexis P. Suter (born 1963), American blues, and soul blues singer and songwriter * Andrew Burn Suter (1830–1895), Bishop of the Diocese of Nelson, New Zealand * August Suter (1887& ...

, 1906)

Bibliography

* (1894) "Notes on the variation and habits of ''

Schizoglossa novoseelandica ''Schizoglossa novoseelandica'' is a predatory species of air-breathing land slug or semi-slug, a Terrestrial animal, terrestrial gastropod mollusc in the family (biology), family Rhytididae. It is the type species of the genus ''Schizoglossa'' a ...

''". ''

Proceedings of the malacological society The ''Journal of Molluscan Studies'' is the peer-reviewed scientific journal of the Malacological Society of London, covering research in malacology.

'
1
3)
138
* (1899) "Description of some New Species of Pliocene Mollusca from the Wanganui District, with Notes on other Described Species. ". ''Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute'' 32

* (1901) ''Journal of Malacology'' 8: 73–85. * (1902) "On the Anatomy of ''

Paryphanta busbyi ''Paryphanta busbyi'' is a species of large predatory land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Rhytididae. Distribution The distribution of ''Paryphanta busbyi'' includes the Northern parts of North Island, New Zea ...

'', Gray". ''Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand'' 35
258–262
* (1903) "On the Anatomy of '' Paryphanta fumosa'', Tenison-Woods". ''Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute'' 36
156–161
* (1904) "Additions to the Marine Mollusca of New Zealand". ''Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute'' 37

* (1905) "On the Anatomy of '' Paryphanta atramentaria'', Shuttleworth". ''Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute'' 38
313–316
* Marshall P. & Murdoch R. C. (1919) "Some New Fossil Species of Mollusca". ''Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute'' 51
253–258
* Marshall P. & Murdoch R. C. (1921) "Some Tertiary Mollusca, with Descriptions of New Species". ''Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute'' 53''
77–84
* Marshall P. & Murdoch R. C. (1921) "Fossils from the Paparoa Rapids, on the

Wanganui River The Wanganui River is in the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It flows northwest for from its headwaters in the Southern Alps, entering the Tasman Sea near Lake Ianthe, southwest of Hokitika Hokitika is a town in the Wes ...

". ''Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute'' 53
85–86
* Marshall P. & Murdoch R. C. (1921) "Tertiary Rocks near Hawera". ''Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute'' 53
86–96
* Marshall P. & Murdoch R. C. (1923) "The Occurrence of the Genus '' Lahillia'' in New Zealand". ''Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute'' 54
129–130
* Marshall P. & Murdoch R. C. (1924) "The Tertiary Rocks of the Wanganui – South Taranaki Coast". ''Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute'' 55
155–156
* (1924) "Some Tertiary Mollusca, with Descriptions of New Species". ''Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute'' 57

References

This article incorporates public domain text coming from New Zealand from reference. Marshall P. (1926) "Robert Murdoch, 1861–1923." ''Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute'' 56
x

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murdoch, Robert C 1861 births 1923 deaths New Zealand malacologists New Zealand zoologists New Zealand Freemasons People from Wangaratta