Richard Dell

For Richard Dell (MP), see Derby (UK Parliament constituency).
Richard Dell
Born 11 July 1920
Auckland, New Zealand
Died 6 March 2002
Wellington, New Zealand
Nationality New Zealand
Fields Malacology
Institutions Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Alma mater Victoria University of Wellington
Known for Work on Mollusca of the Chatham Islands and the Antarctic

Richard Kenneth Dell QSO (11 July 1920 – 6 March 2002) was a New Zealand malacologist.

Biography

Dell was born in Auckland in 1920. As a young boy, he took an interest in shells, collecting them from the shores of Waitemata Harbour. He even managed to start a "museum" in his backyard. He also helped curate the Auckland War Memorial Museum shell collection.[1]

Dell studied at Mount Albert Grammar School and later at the Auckland University College. He took a teacher’s course at Auckland Teachers' College, but World War II delayed his plans to become a teacher. He joined the New Zealand Artillery, serving on Nissan Island, the Solomon Islands, in the Middle East, Egypt, and Italy. He later published several papers on the land snails he had collected in the Solomon Islands.[1]

After the war, Dell was offered a job as malacologist at the Dominion Museum, where he started to standardise the cabinets and built up a collection of more than 30,000 specimens. In the meantime, he took a Master's degree in Science at Victoria University of Wellington, with a pioneering thesis on cephalopods, octopuses and squid.

His breakthrough came with the Chatham Islands Expedition of 1954. The results were published in 1956 as The Archibenthal Mollusca of New Zealand, which was a major contribution to the knowledge of molluscan fauna in the bathyal zone of New Zealand waters. This publication earned him a Doctorate in Science in 1956.

Soon after, Dell started to work on Antarctic collections, with among others Alan Beu and Winston Ponder. In 1964 he published a major monograph on the Antarctic bivalves, chitons and scaphopods.

Dell became first Assistant Director in 1961 and later in 1966, Director of the Dominion Museum, which would become the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

He retired in 1980, and started writing again. In 1990 he published his standard work Antarctic Mollusca with special reference to the Fauna of the Ross Sea.

Dell published more than 150 papers on Mollusca (marine, terrestrial and freshwater), crabs and birds. He also made a major contribution to the Antarctic biogeography.

In the 1981 New Year Honours, Dell was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services.[2] He was an honoured member of many scientific societies and committees. He won prizes and medals in New Zealand and abroad. He has named many new species of molluscs and several new crustaceans.

Dell died in 2002, after a long illness, in Wellington. He was survived by his wife Miriam Dell, who he had married in 1946.[1]

Selected publications

In scientific journals 
Other publications

Taxa named by R.K. Dell

Apart from having named numerous species in the Mollusca and some in the Crustacea, he has also established a number of new genera :

Taxa named in honour of R.K. Dell[3]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Alan Beu, Bruce Marshall and Winston Ponder : Richard Kenneth ('Dick') Dell (1920–2002), obituary, bibliography and list of his taxa; Molluscan Research, 2003, 23, 85–99
  2. ↑ London Gazette (supplement), No. 48469, 31 December 1980. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  3. ↑ WoRMS: Species with epithet delli

External links