Ernst Ehlers


Ernst Heinrich Ehlers was a German zoologist born in Lüneburg.
He studied medicine and natural sciences at the University of Göttingen, earning his doctorate in 1861. Here he was influenced by Rudolf Wagner and Wilhelm [Moritz Keferstein]. In 1869 he became a full professor of zoology, comparative anatomy and veterinary medicine at the University of Erlangen. From 1874 to 1919, he was a professor of zoology and comparative anatomy in Göttingen. In 1890 he was one of the founders of the Deutschen Zoologischen Gesellschaft.
He was a leading authority on polychaetes, and is credited with describing many invertebrate species new to science. The polychaete genus Ehlersia from the family Syllidae is named after him.

Selected writings

  • Die Borstenwürmer nach systematischen und anatomischen Untersuchungen dargestellt, – Bristle worms according to systematic and anatomical studies.
  • Polychaeten, 1897 – Polychaetes.
  • Polychaeten Hamburger Magelhaensische Sammelreise, 1897 – Polychaetes from the Hamburg Magellanic collection mission.
  • Die Polychaeten des Magellanischen und Chilenischen Strandes, 1901 – Polychaetes of the Magellanic and Chilean shores.
  • Neuseelandische Anneliden, 1904 – New Zealand annelids.
  • Polychaeten von Java und Amboina. Ein beitrag zur kenntnis der malaiischen strandfauna, 1920 – Polychaetes of Java and Amboina.