William L. Pflieger

October 26, 1932 – December 15, 2021

William Leo Pflieger passed away at the age of 89 in Ashland, Missouri, December 15, 2021. Pflieger worked for many years as a fishery biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and was recognized as an expert on Missouri fishes and crayfishes. He authored three books: The Fishes of Missouri, The Crayfishes of Missouri, and a revision of the first edition of The Fishes of Missouri.

The Fishes of Missouri instantly became a widely used textbook due to the high quality of the figures, photographs, keys, and biological information. Doug Austen, Executive Director of the American Fisheries Society, commented that, “Yes, Bill Pflieger was a noted ichthyologist. I don't know any fisheries student from my era who didn't have one of his books.”

Pflieger was born October 26, 1932 in Columbus, Ohio. He was a Korean War veteran and was married to Jo (Osborne) Pflieger, who died November 14, 2021. Bill, as he preferred to be called, was an avid naturalist, hunter, and beekeeper.

Pflieger obtained a BS from the Ohio State University in 1958, followed by an MS in 1960. He was recruited by MDC in 1961 to assemble information about the distribution and habitats of all fish species occurring in Missouri. Pflieger reviewed published literature and located collections of Missouri fishes held at several museums in both Missouri and in other states. He also visited most areas of Missouri, and made over 700 collections of fish from more than 500 locations.

He took a leave of absence from MDC in the early 1960s to pursue a PhD at the University of Kansas. Pflieger documented his work there in a 245-page 1971 published report, “A Distributional Study of Missouri Fishes,” that was a partial fulfilment for a PhD from the University of Kansas in 1969.

During his 34-year tenure with the MDC, Pflieger published the three aforementioned books, as well as numerous reports and publications. He was very instrumental in the establishment of Missouri's system for storage, retrieval, and analysis of stream resource data as well as the development of an aquatic community classification system for Missouri. Bill’s knowledge of fishes, streams, zoogeography, and natural features, and how these affect systems and communities led to a contract with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to prepare a recovery plan for the endemic and endangered Niangua Darter Etheostoma nianguae.

Pflieger was a prodigious field worker and became known as “One-more-seine-haul, Bill” by his coworkers. Even though the sun was setting, and it had been a long day, Bill would say, “Let’s make just one more seine haul to see what is in that pool!”

Pflieger was a research associate at the University of Missouri, a member of the Society of Sigma Xi, the American Fisheries Society, the International Association of Astacology, the Natural Areas Association, the Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Missouri Conservation Pioneers, and a founding member of the Missouri Chapter of the American Fisheries Society.

Bill was honored for his many contributions, receiving the 1977 Missouri Chapter’s John L. Funk Award of Excellence, the 1992 MDC Fisheries Division Employee of the Year Award, the 1997 American Motors Conservationist of the Year Award, and the 1997 Missouri Natural Areas Committee Award.

Pflieger’s advice on the systematics, habitat requirements and other aspects of fish and crayfish life were highly sought after by other professionals as well as lay people and will be sorely missed.

威廉· L·普弗利格

1932 年 10 月 26 日 – 2021 年 12 月 15 日

William Leo Pflieger 于 2021 年 12 月 15 日在密苏里州阿什兰去世，享年 89 岁。Pflieger 在密苏里州自然保护部 (MDC) 担任渔业生物学家多年，并被公认为密苏里州鱼类和小龙虾方面的专家。他撰写了三本书：《密苏里鱼》、《密苏里小龙虾》和《密苏里鱼》第一版的修订本。

由于图片、照片、钥匙和生物信息的高质量，《密苏里鱼》立即成为一本广泛使用的教科书。美国渔业协会执行董事 Doug Austen 评论说：“是的，Bill Pflieger 是一位著名的鱼类学家。在我这个时代，我认识的任何渔业学生都没有他的一本书。”

Pflieger 于 1932 年 10 月 26 日出生于俄亥俄州哥伦布市。他是一名朝鲜战争老兵，与 2021 年 11 月 14 日去世的 Jo (Osborne) Pflieger 结婚。比尔喜欢这样称呼他，他是一位狂热的博物学家、猎人和养蜂人。

Pflieger 于 1958 年从俄亥俄州立大学获得学士学位，随后于 1960 年获得硕士学位。他于 1961 年被 MDC 招募，负责收集有关密苏里州所有鱼类的分布和栖息地的信息。Pflieger 回顾了已发表的文献，并找到了密苏里州和其他州的几家博物馆收藏的密苏里州鱼类藏品。他还访问了密苏里州的大部分地区，并从 500 多个地点收集了 700 多条鱼。

1960 年代初，他从 MDC 休假，前往堪萨斯大学攻读博士学位。Pflieger 在 1971 年发表的一份 245 页的报告“密苏里鱼类的分布研究”中记录了他在那里的工作，这是 1969 年堪萨斯大学博士学位的部分实现。

在 MDC 的 34 年任期内，Pflieger 出版了上述三本书，以及大量报告和出版物。他在建立密苏里州河流资源数据的存储、检索和分析系统以及密苏里州水生群落分类系统的开发方面发挥了重要作用。比尔对鱼类、溪流、动物地理学和自然特征的了解，以及这些知识如何影响系统和社区，因此与美国鱼类和野生动物管理局签订了一份合同，为地方性和濒临灭绝的 Niangua Darter Etheostoma nianguae制定恢复计划。

Pflieger 是一位了不起的现场工作者，并被他的同事称为“再拉一次围网，比尔”。即使太阳下山了，又是漫长的一天，比尔还是会说：“让我们再拉一次围网，看看那个水池里有什么！”

Pflieger 是密苏里大学的研究助理、Sigma Xi 协会、美国渔业协会、国际昆虫学协会、自然区协会、鱼类学家和爬虫学家协会、密苏里州保护先驱者和创始者美国渔业协会密苏里分会成员。

比尔因其许多贡献而受到表彰，获得了 1977 年密苏里州分会的 John L. Funk 卓越奖、1992 年 MDC 渔业部年度员工奖、1997 年美国汽车年度保护主义者奖和 1997 年密苏里州自然区委员会奖.

Pflieger 对鱼类和小龙虾生活的系统学、栖息地要求和其他方面的建议受到了其他专业人士和非专业人士的高度追捧，并将非常怀念。