W. George Ridewood was a lecturer in biology at St Mary's Medical School, University of London, in 1908, when he described "A new species of Cephalodiscus, (C. Gilchristi) from the Cape seas" in Marine investigations in South Africa (Vol. 4, pp. 173-192). The species was named after the South African marine biologist J.D.F. Gilchrist* and belonged to the class Pterobranchia, a small group of minute marine organisms living in colonies. Ridewood, in collaboration with Arthur Willey, also reported on Polychaeta from the Cape of Good Hope (London, 1903-1907).
Ridewood was associated with the Department of Zoology at the British Museum (Natural History) at the time. He compiled a Guide to the gallery of fishes... (1908) for the museum, as well as Memorials of Charles Darwin; a collection of manuscripts, portraits, medals, books and natural history specimens to commemorate the centenary of his birth... (1909) and various other works, including some 50 zoological papers between 1888 and 1923, most dealing with the anatomy (especially the skeletal anatomy) of fishes, frogs and toads.
