Gilchrist was born in
Anstruther, Fife, Scotland in 1866. His early education was at
Madras College,
St Andrews, Scotland. He studied at the
University of St Andrews and the
University of Edinburgh, Gilchrist was appointed Marine Biologist in the
Department of Agriculture of the
Cape of Good Hope,
Cape Colony in December 1895 and took up the position in early 1896. He held the post of Professor and Director of Fisheries and Marine Biological Survey of South Africa and initiated a marine biological survey in 1897, using the vessel
Pieter Faure, which led to the discovery of new stocks of
hake near
Dassen Island and
sole near
Mossel Bay. The survey was extended in 1901 to the coast of
Natal but no new
trawling grounds were found. A biological laboratory for marine research focusing on marine
fauna, sea temperature and
salinity as a means of studying ocean currents, was built at St James in 1902 at Gilchrist's request.
William Wardlaw Thompson was his assistant for most of Gilchrist's
tenure and Thompson co-authored many important papers with him, including
The Freshwater Fishes of South Africa and
A catalogue of the sea fishes recorded from Natal. The specimens collected during the marine surveys resulted in the discovery of hundreds of new
species and several new
genera of marine organisms, including many that had not been observed in South African waters before. Gilchrist described many of the new species himself, while others were sent to overseas specialists such as
G.A. Boulenger,
G.B. Sowerby,
T.R.R. Stebbing,
S.J. Hickson and
J. Stanley Gardiner, whose descriptions were published in the six volumes of
Marine investigations in South Africa (1902-1910), the first marine science journal in Southern Africa, which Gilchrist edited and to which he contributed many papers. Gilchrist was an examiner for the
University of the Cape of Good Hope in botany (1902-1903) and zoology (1903, 1912-1916). He was awarded a D.Sc. in 1905 by the
University of Edinburgh and was appointed supervisor of marine studies at the
South African College. In 1907, he was appointed professor of zoology at the South African College, replacing
Arthur Dendy. His teaching assistant at that time was J. Stuart Thompson. He remained professor of zoology until shortly before his death in 1926. In 1907, the post of Government Biologist was abolished, but Gilchrist continued to play an important role in the Department of Agriculture's marine survey as Chairman of the Fishery Advisory Board. In 1908, he described a new species of
hemichordates. After 1910, he became director of the
Fisheries Survey of the Union of South Africa. As fisheries advisor to the Cape Provincial Administration he compiled four
Marine Biological Reports covering activities during the years 1912 to 1917. Gilchrist resigned his position in December 1910, when a full-time curator of marine collections was appointed under the
Union of South Africa. Together with his assistant,
W.W. Thompson, Gilchrist published a comprehensive
Catalogue of the sea fishes recorded from Natal in the
Annals of the Durban Museum In 1918 he described a new
genus of crawling
medusa and investigated
trematode parasites. In 1920, Gilchrist led marine survey expeditions in a converted
whaler, the
Pickle. The expeditions went as far as
Laurenço Marques to the east and
Walvis Bay to the north. Amongst other discoveries were new trawling grounds for hake north-west of Cape Town. These discoveries were covered by the reports of the
Fisheries and Marine Biological Survey for the years 1920 to 1925, issued by Gilchrist. In 1925, he discovered a new
enteropneust. He is the recognised authority for many genera and species of fish, such as
Paralichthodes algoensis, the
peppered flounder. His standard abbreviation under the
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature is
Gilchrist. == Taxon named in his honor ==