MERV GRIFFITHS was born in Sydney on 8th July 1914, grew up in Northbridge and was educated in schools in North Sydney, including North Sydney Boys’ High School, which he attended from 1930-32. He entered what he, mischievously referred to as “The University” [University of Sydney] in 1934 to study Zoology. This period was difficult financially for all, including the University of Sydney, but in spite of the effects of underfunding and crowded conditions, Merv followed his biological interests under the tutelage of Professor W. J. Dakin and a small staff in the Zoology Department. He shared the Caird Scholarship and Haswell Prize with his friend and colleague Darcy Gilmour in 1936, obtained his Bachelor Degree in Zoology with first Class Honours in 1937, followed by his Master of Science in 1938. Merv first began publishing in the scientific literature in 1936 with a paper on The colour changes in batoid fishes in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales.