Ponani Narayana Ganapati obtained his DSc degree (1942) from the University of Madras. His area of specialization was protozoology – marine biology. Ganapati was a teacher par excellence and a Professor Emeritus, Department of Zoology, Andhra University, Waltair.

Academic and Research Achievements: Ganapati made significant contributions to our understanding of parasitic protozoa in marine worms and fishes, marine biology, biological oceanography, planktonology, benthic ecology and marine pollution. He was the first to describe life histories of several new pathogenic sporozoans of the food fishes of India. He also carried out pioneering work on the systematics and ecology of littoral fauna at Vishakhapatnam and Kakinada and described several new species of Bryozoa, Mollusca, Polychaeta, Nematoda, Gastrotricha and Echinodermata.

Other Contributions: Ganapati was a Member of the Indian National Committee of Oceanographic Research (CSIR) and of Scientific Panel for Fisheries Research (ICAR).

Awards and Honours: Ganapati received Curzon Prize (Maharajah of Travancore) (1942), Sir Dorabji Tata Gold Medal (1976) and was a Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore as well as of Zoological Society of India.