Johann August Ephraim Goeze was a German zoologist, born in Aschersleben. He was the son of Johann Heinrich and Catherine Margarete. He studied theology at University of Halle. He married Leopoldine Maria Keller in 1770, by whom he had four children. In 1751, he became a pastor in Aschersleben, in Quedlinburg, and later of St. Blasius' Church in Quedlinburg in 1762, finally becoming first deacon of the seminary of Quedlinburg in 1787. He died in Quedlinburg.
He did much work with aquatic invertebrates, particularly insects and worms. In 1773, he was the first to describe tardigrades. In 1784, Goeze perceived the similarities between the heads of tapeworms found in the human intestinal tract and the invaginated heads of Cysticercus cellulosae in pigs.