Biography
Ploeg studied biology at Utrecht University and received his doctorate in 1983. In the following years, he focused extensively on the genus Crenicichla, describing several species as new to science. In 1991, he defended his dissertation at the University of Amsterdam, a revision of the genus that included fifteen new species descriptions. Of the more than ninety species of Crenicichla, almost twenty were described by Ploeg, in addition to several synonyms.
From 1989 to 1991, Ploeg was curator of a public aquarium in Aruba, and from 1991 to 1992 he worked as an ornamental fish breeder in Bonaire. From 1993 to 2004, he held management positions at several companies in the ornamental fish trade. In 2004, he became secretary-general of the international trade association for the ornamental fish industry, Ornamental Fish International (OFI). In 2006, he also became secretary-general of the European Pet Organization, and in 2009 he took up an advisory position with a Dutch trade association. In these positions, Ploeg lobbied national, European and international legislators and authorities on behalf of the ornamental fish industry. He represented the interests of an industry increasingly subject to restrictions in the areas of animal welfare and species conservation.
On 17 July 2014, Ploeg, his wife Edith, her son Robert, and his friend Robin were killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine. The couple were survived by two daughters.
