Heiko Bleher facts for kids

Heiko Bleher (born October 18, 1944) is a German explorer, writer, photographer, and filmmaker. He is famous for exploring freshwater and brackish water (a mix of fresh and salt water) places all over the world. He has found many new kinds of fish and water plants. Some of these plants and fish are even named after him or his family!

Heiko Bleher's Amazing Life

Growing Up with Nature

Heiko Bleher was born in Frankfurt on Main, Germany. He is the youngest of four children. His parents were Ludwig and Amanda Bleher. Heiko got his love for freshwater fish and water plants from his mother, Amanda.

Amanda's father, Adolf Kiel, was known as the "Father of Water Plants." He was a pioneer in modern aquariums. In 1900, Adolf Kiel started the world's biggest plant and pet fish farm in Frankfurt, Germany.

Early Adventures and Discoveries

When Heiko was just 4 years old, his mother took him on a research trip to Equatorial Guinea in West Africa. Two years later, he joined his mother on a journey across Europe. They collected many different plants and fish.

From age seven, Heiko and his three siblings joined their mother on an exciting exploration trip. They went deep into the "green hell" of the South American jungle. During this two-year adventure, his mother discovered many new kinds of water plants, fish, and other animals.

At the end of 1958, Heiko's family moved permanently to Brazil. They started a water-plant nursery and fish-breeding farm called "Osiris." It was located in the jungle outside Rio de Janeiro.

Education and Further Exploration

In 1962, Heiko moved to the United States. He later studied at the University of South Florida. There, he took courses like ichthyology (the study of fish), biology (the study of living things), limnology (the study of freshwater), oceanography (the study of oceans), and parasitology (the study of parasites). He also worked at fish farms.

After returning to Rio de Janeiro in 1964, Heiko started his own export company, "Aquarium Rio." He continued his research and collected many species throughout Brazil.

Important Fish Discoveries

In 1964, Heiko Bleher introduced the Hemigrammus bleheri (also known as the brilliant rummy-head tetra) to people who keep aquariums. This was the first fish species to be named after him!

Heiko also helped the rainbowfish community. He introduced Melanotaenia boesemani and many of the nearly 100 other species of rainbowfish. In 1970, Heiko was the first person to collect live Pterophyllum altum (a type of angelfish) from Venezuela.

Species Named After Heiko and His Family

Many different kinds of plants and animals have been named in honor of Heiko Bleher and his family. This shows how important their discoveries have been!

• The tetra fish Hemigrammus bleheri
• The fish Leporinus bleheri
• The fish Bleheratherina pierucciae
• The Cichlid fish Steatocranus bleheri (named by Manfred K. Meyer)
• The Snakehead fish Channa bleheri
• The African Tetra fish Phenacogrammus bleheri
• The fish Moenkhausia heikoi
• The Rainbowfish Chilatherina bleheri
• The Bromeliad plant Vriesea bleheri, which was collected by Amanda and Michael Bleher
• The fish Hyphessobrycon amandae is named in honor of Amanda Bleher (1910–1991). She was Heiko Bleher's mother. She collected the first example of this fish and was very interested in the freshwater animals and plants of Brazil.