Born and raised in the Bronx, Peter attended Queens College for two years, followed by the University of Kansas where he graduated with degrees in Zoology and History. He subsequently went on to attend KU Law and in 2004 joined and ultimately took over a legal services referral agency where he is still the managing partner as his son prepares to step into his father’s shoes in 2025.
Peter’s current residence since 1983 in Petersham, Massachusetts has provided him with ample room to garden and a huge basement to accommodate his tanks. An avid rock gardener, he served as President of the North American Rock Garden Society from 2011-13 and organized several international rock garden conferences. As a fish guy, Peter joined the New England Cichlid Association in 2012 and was involved in two American Cichlid Association conventions hosted by the NECA, as well as several regional events, numerous auctions and all facets of aquarium club volunteering. He also served most of two terms on the ACA Board of Trustees.
Having kept fish since childhood, Peter presently runs 35 tanks for a total of approximately 1,300 gallons. Almost all of his fish are either East African Rift Lake species (Lakes Victoria, Edward, George, Mweru, Kyoga and other satellite lakes), as well as Lakes Bermin, Barombi Mbo and Ejagham. He has had some Synodontis species from Lake Tanganyika for over 20 years.
Peter has been nothing short of extraordinary in networking with European breeders, collectors and scientists to bring in rare conservation priority species and connecting hobbyists with their dream fish. He has taken this upon himself as a mission which has been immensely beneficial to the aquarium hobby at large, not to mention for the future outlook of species at risk. During his years with the NECA, Peter has been involved in over a dozen new collections from African lakes and rivers, leading to the introduction of over 40 new species and the re-introduction of over 20 species that had been lost to the hobby. And NECA has initiated seven imports of CARES cichlids from Europe, again introducing and/or reintroducing over 40 previously unknown or lost haplochromines.
We are so fortunate to have Peter on the CARES Team as our CARES Priority List East Africa Lagoon Species Regional Coordinator, a CARES Team Specialist, CARES Speaker, spearheading the CARES Single Species Maintenance Project and through the ACA as the ACA CARES Coordinator.
Come learn about Peter’s talk about. Collecting from offbeat lakes and rivers in Africa
Also check out other Meetups in Fall River.
