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Adrianus Franciscus Johannes Marinus Maria "Ad"Konings[1] (born 11 January 1956 inRoosendaal,Netherlands) is anichthyologist originally trained inmedicine andbiology. Konings is best known for his research onAfrican rift lakecichlids. After studies inAmsterdam, he has spent most of his life inRotterdam.
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.
From 1974-1980 he studied medical biology at theUniversity of Amsterdam 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 onlysosomal enzymes at theErasmus University in Rotterdam. Most of this wasDNA-related work (molecular biology).
In 1986, Konings moved toSt. Leon-Rot,Germany (nearHeidelberg), where he started to write books and breedLake Tanganyika cichlids. He also worked for 18 months at theUniversity of HeidelbergParasitology Department.
Konings and his future wife started their own publishing company,Cichlid Press, in 1991. Its first book was titled theCichlids 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 prolificphotographer, and a recent Google image search under his name yielded 6,900 images.
Late in her career famed ichthyologistEthelwynn Trewavas mentored Konings, providing feedback and suggestions for his research. When her eyesight failed late in her life she asked him to accept herstereomicroscope 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 exporterStuart Grant early in his career, and when Konings married his wife Gertrud (nḗe Dudin), also a biologist, in 1996 inMalawi Grant and his wife Esther were best man and maid of honor.
Konings moved toEl Paso, Texas, 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 ofcacti since their move, photographing every species and variety of cactus native to Texas.[2]
He occasionally leads expeditions toLake Malawi and lectures extensively around the world.
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Two Lake Malawi cichlids have been named after him, namelyAulonocara koningsi by Patrick Tawil in 2003, andPlacidochromis koningsi by Hanssens in 2004.
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