Adrianus Franciscus Johannes Marinus Maria "Ad" Konings (born 11 January 1956 in

Roosendaal Roosendaal () is both a city and a municipality in the southern Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant. Towns/villages of the municipality * Roosendaal (population: 66,760) * Wouw (4,920) * Heerle (1,900) * Nispen (1,440) * Wouwse ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

) is an

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

originally trained in

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

and

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

. Konings is best known for his research on African rift lake

cichlids Cichlids () are a large, diverse, and widespread family of Percomorpha, percomorph fish in the family (biology), family Cichlidae, order Cichliformes. At least 1,760 species have been Binomial nomenclature, scientifically described, making ...

. After studies in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, he has spent most of his life in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

Early life

Konings started keeping cichlids when he was 14 years old in 1970. Soon he was breeding rare African cichlids and working as an assistant to the largest tropical fish dealer in the Netherlands.

Academic studies and early career

From 1974-1980 he studied medical biology at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

and was awarded his Ph.D. in 1980. He chose this field despite his love of ichthyology due to a fear that if he chose the latter field he would be unemployable. From 1980-1986. he did research on

lysosomal enzymes A lysosome () is a membrane-bound organelle that is found in all mammalian cells, with the exception of red blood cells (erythrocytes). There are normally hundreds of lysosomes in the cytosol, where they function as the cell’s degradation cent ...

at the

Erasmus University Erasmus University Rotterdam ( ; abbreviated as EUR) is a public university, public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus, Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century Christia ...

in Rotterdam. Most of this was

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

-related work (

molecular biology Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...

). In 1986, Konings moved to St. Leon-Rot,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

(near

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

), where he started to write books and breed

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika ( ; ) is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake. It is the world's List of lakes by volume, second-largest freshwater lake by volume and the List of lakes by depth, second deepest, in both cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. ...

cichlids. He also worked for 18 months at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

Parasitology Parasitology is the study of parasites, their host (biology), hosts, and the relationship between them. As a List of biology disciplines, biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in questio ...

Department.

As publisher and photographer

Konings and his future wife started their own publishing company,

Cichlid Press Cichlids () are a large, diverse, and widespread family of percomorph fish in the family Cichlidae, order Cichliformes. At least 1,760 species have been scientifically described, making it one of the largest vertebrate families, with only ...

, in 1991. Its first book was titled the ''Cichlids Yearbook'', vol. 1. The business grew and now publishes a number of cichlid guidebooks by Konings and other authors; its publications are often regarded as the standard reference works on various classes of African cichlids. Amazon booksellers list 36 different books or publications under his name. He is also a prolific

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

, and a recent Google image search under his name yielded 6,900 images. Late in her career famed ichthyologist

Ethelwynn Trewavas Ethelwynn Trewavas (5 November 1900 – 16 August 1993) was an ichthyologist at the British Museum of Natural History. She was known for her work on the families Cichlidae and Sciaenidae. She worked with Charles Tate Regan, another ichthy ...

mentored Konings, providing feedback and suggestions for his research. When her eyesight failed late in her life she asked him to accept her

stereo Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...

microscope A microscope () is a laboratory equipment, laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic ...

as a gift from the prominent African cichlid expert of the mid-20th century to the man who succeeded her in describing a multitude of new cichlid species. Konings also was mentored by prominent fish explorer and exporter Stuart Grant early in his career, and when Konings married his wife Gertrud (nḗe Dudin), also a biologist, in 1996 in

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

Grant and his wife Esther were best man and maid of honor. Konings moved to

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

, in 1996, relocating Cichlid Press along with his family. In interviews he has described a love of the area's climate and landscape as the reason for the move. The Konings have taken up the study of

cacti A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

since their move, photographing every species and variety of cactus native to Texas. He occasionally leads expeditions to

Lake Malawi Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, () is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is ...

and lectures extensively around the world.

Publications

* ''Back To Nature Guide to Malawi Cichlids'' by Ad Konings; Hardcover; Cichlid Press; 2nd edition (November 20, 2003); ; * ''Malawi Cichlids in Their Natural Habitat'' by Ad Konings; Hardcover; Cichlid Press; 3rd edition (July 31, 2001); ; * ''Enjoying Cichlids'' by Kjell Fohrman, Mary Bailey, Ad Konings; Hardcover; Cichlid Press (November 30, 2002); ; * ''Celebrating Cichlids from Lakes Malawi and Tanganyika'' by Ad Konings; Hardcover; Cichlid Press (August 31, 2005); ; * ''Tanganyika Cichlids in Their Natural Habitat'' by Ad Konings; Hardcover; Cichlid Press; ; * ''Guide to Malawi Cichlids'' by Ad Konings; Hardcover; Aqualog Verlag GmbH (January 1997); ; * ''Guide to Tanganyika Cichlids'' by Ad Konings; Hardcover; Aqualog Verlag GmbH (January 1996); ; * ''Konings' Book of Cichlids and All the Other Fishes of Lake Malawi'' by Ad Konings; Hardcover;

TFH Publications TFH Publications is an American book publisher based in New Jersey. It specializes in books about pets. In 1997 the owner, Herbert R. Axelrod sold the company to Central Garden & Pet Company of California for $70 million. Its publications incl ...

(July 1991); ; * ''Cichlids from Central America'' by Ad Konings; Hardcover; Tropical Fish Hobbyist (February 1989); ; * ''The Cichlid Diversity of Lake Malawi/Nyasa/Niassa: Identification, Distribution and Taxonomy'' by Jos Snoeks and Ad Konings; Hardcover; Cichlid Press (November, 2004); ; * ''Cacti of Texas: in their natural habitat'' by Gertrud & Ad Konings; Cichlid Press (2009);
Featherfins in their natural habitat

Tribute

Two Lake Malawi cichlids have been named after him, namely '' Aulonocara koningsi'' by Patrick Tawil in 2003, and ''

Placidochromis koningsi ''Placidochromis'' is a genus of cichlids endemic to Lake Malawi in Eastern Africa. They are part of the haplochromine lineage of Lake Malawi's cichlid taxa. Most ''Placidochromis'' species live in the open or sandy regions of the lake. Spec ...

'' by Hanssens in 2004.

References