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InMemoriamAlexPloeg
InMemoriam
I was hardly able tobelieve itwhen,on the
morning of Friday 18th July, I received the
news thatAlexPloeg,togetherwithhiswife
Edith,theirsonRobert,andthe latter's friend
Robin, was among the victims of Malaysia
Airlines Flight MH17which had crashed in
the Ukraine. Such a sudden death among
one's circleof friendswouldprobably leave
anyone inshock.Wehadonly recentlyhada
laugh with Alex and Edith at the Interzoo.
Andnowtheyweredead?Thepoliticsofthe
world at large had intruded into our little
hobby world and Alex and his family had
becomevictims in theprocess.
But leaving aside these personal
considerations: inAlexPloeg theweird and
wonderfulworldof fisheshas lostoneof its
personalities. His entire professional career
was involvedwith fishes.Hestudiedbiology
at the University of Utrecht, where he
completedhisdoctorate in1983.From1982
on he worked intensively with the pike
cichlidsof thegenus
Crenicichla
,and in1991
successfully submitted a dissertation on
themat theUniversityof Amsterdam.From
1989 to 1990 Alex worked as Curator at a
public aquarium in Aruba (Dutch Antilles),
from 1991 to 1992 as a fish breeder in
Bonaire (likewiseDutchAntilles), from1993
to2000hewasManagerat twoornamental
fish wholesalers in the Netherlands, from
2001 to 2004 he was Sales Manager at
Aqualog, and from 2004 on Secretary
Generalof the internationalornamental fish
trade organization Ornamental Fish
International (OFI). In addition to this
position Alex also took on the role of
Secretary General of the European Pet
Organization (from 2006) and that of an
advisor to the Dutch pet trade association
Dibevo (from2009).
Aquarists will remember Alex as the
Crenicichla
man. He described 24 new
species in this, the most species-rich of all
cichlid genera, and in particular the
gorgeous dwarf species
C. compressiceps
and
C. regani
will always remain linked to
Alex'sname.Alexdevoted10yearsofhis life
to the pike cichlids and even when, as he
himself put it, he was long done with the
subject, he still remained very interested in
these characterful cichlids During our last
encounter at the end of May 2014 he
absolutely had to see the very rare
Crenicichla zebrina
then in stock at
AquariumGlaser, even thoughhehad very
little time. Edith always supported her
husband in all his activities, and thiswasn't
just a case of moral support but, as Alex
wrote in his 1991 work on
Crenicichla
,
financial support as well when times were
hard.Alexdedicateda
Crenicichla
species,
C.
edithae
,toher.
But Alex's greatest service to the aquarium
hobby remains virtually unknown to the
general public. Because of his diplomatic
and obliging nature Alex was a respected
participant at all the important conferences
and congresses relating to the hobby, and
someone thatpeople listened to.Hisexpert
knowledge, his negotiating skills, and his
numerouspersonalcontactsenabledhimto
divert some of the proposed EU-wide
legislative measures affecting the entire
aquarium hobby or moderate them to a
realistic level that all those affected could
livewith.
Alex Ploeg, citizen of the world and
internationaldiplomat inmatters relating to
the aquariumhobby,will begreatlymissed
in the major future challenges that our
hobby faces.
Out heartfelt sympathy goes to Alex and
Edith's twodaughters,MirjamandSandra.
FrankSchäfer
Crenicichlacompressiceps
Ploeg,1986
Crenicichlaedithae
Ploeg,1991
UBMMedia (Singapore) PteLtd.
