Hermann Meinken

Hermann Meinken (born December 10, 1896 in Bremen ; † June 22, 1976 ibid) was a German aquarist and amateur ichthyologist .

Life

Meinken worked for several years as a high school teacher in biology. In 1951, together with Werner Ladiges and Hugo Weise, he founded the Commission for the Creation of German Fish Names in Hanover, which pursued the goal of proposing and establishing German trivial names for aquarium fish . Between 1929 and 1975 Meinken described 57 new species from the groups of cichlids , tooth pars and carp fish . 24 species, including Hangel's harlequin harlequin ( Rasbora hengeli ), which he named in 1956 after the Dutch aquarist JF van Hengel, who photographed the species alive for the first time, are still valid today.

Together with Arthur Rachow and Maximilian Holly , Meinken published the loose-leaf collection Die Aquarienfische in words and pictures between 1934 and 1967 , which is one of the standard works of German-language aquarium literature. Thanks to the system of loose sheets, which appeared in 130 deliveries, the information could always be kept up to date. In aquarists' circles the work was known as Holly Meinken Rachow .

On November 8, 1973, at the age of 77, Meinken was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Bremen . Since he had never completed a university degree, his approximately 800 publications and a speech by Meinken before the decision-making body were used as the equivalent of the dissertation. In November 1974, he graduated as Dr. rer. nat. at the University of Bremen.

Meinken was a member of the Association of German Aquarium and Terrarium Associations (VDA) for decades and worked there as a systematic. From 1949 to 1976 he was head of the VDA's fish identification office

In 1975 Meinken fell ill with the nerve disease myasthenia gravis .

He was married and had two sons.

Dedication names

The species Rasbora meinkeni , Apistogramma meinkeni and Copella meinkeni are named after Meinken . The latter species is now considered a junior synonym of Copella nattereri

Fonts (selection)

• The aquarium fish in words and pictures, 1934–1967 (with Maximilian Holly and Arthur Rachow)
• Magnificent new ornamental fish, 1950
• We set up our aquarium, 1950

literature

• Martin Ralph Brittan: Hermann Meinken, 1896–1976. In: Tropical Fish Hobbyist No. 25, 1976, pp. 36-37
• Gerhard Ott: Festschrift 90 years of VDA: On the history of the VDA's fish identification office (with details about Meinken's involvement with the VDA and the award of an honorary doctorate in Bremen), 2001, pp. 1-44
• Axel Zarske, Heinz Otto Berkenkamp: The standard work "Holly, Meinken, Rachow (1934-1967) the aquarium fish in words and pictures" and its meaning for ichthyology. In: Bulletin of Fish Biology, 15 (1/2), 2015, pp. 53-119. (Biographical data about Meinken)