Luís Santos - The Killifish Collections Project

COLLECTOR DATA
Full name	Luís Miguel Santos
Place of birth	Lisbon, Portugal
Nationality	Portuguese
Date of birth	1971, December 17
Profession	IT Business Manager

EXPEDITIONS
2011, July	FGSLM 2011	French Guiana
2011, July	BRSLM 2011	Brazil
2016	GS 16	Ghana
2024, October/November	FGLSF 24	French Guiana

BIOGRAPHY
Luís Santos had been an aquarist for a long time when, in 2005, he found in a store what he described at home as “a very different, beautiful fish.” In that same year, he drove to Bilbao for the Killis Taldea exhibition with his friend José Cunha and filled the car with fish tanks, heaters, air pumps… and, most importantly, several pairs of killifish. Always striving to progress in the hobby, he built a proper fish room and began attending several killifish exhibitions across Europe. His enthusiasm for keeping and breeding killifish led him to plan his first collection trip to French Guiana. He had always been very interested in Rivulus, so this destination was no surprise. Together with Jacques Laird and Mario Melo, he traveled there and collected his first Rivulus in 2011. They were also able to collect a few fish in Brazil (FGSLM 2011 and BRSLM 2011). Several years later, when he took a professional position in Ghana, he seized the opportunity to make another collection trip (GS 16), from which Epiplatys togolensis “Wii Falls GS 16-01” remain in the hobby. In 2025, he made his last collection trip. Joining again his friend Jacques Laird and Vladimir Fabry, he collected and brought back several pairs of Rivulus, the highlight being Rivulus igneus caught in Maripasoula, along with several collections of Rivulus chladophorus not seen in the hobby for a long time. He also brought back Rivulus agilae, lungi, xiphidius, and other igneus populations. (text by Ricardo Santos) _______________________________________ Unlikely explorer — From the age of 14, Luís suffered from an autoimmune disease marked by chronic pain and difficulty in movement. In addition, he endured another hereditary condition that, as with his father, caused his first heart attack at 39. Despite all these challenges, he lived life to the fullest, including undertaking field-collecting trips usually reserved for people without physical limitations. This heart condition ultimately took his life on June 4, 2025. Luís was an example of perseverance and dedication to killifish collecting— the unlikely explorer. The Killifish Collections Project pays him a simple tribute by publishing this page in his honor. (Vasco Gomes, KCP Editor)