Albert J. Kleee in 2020 wrote:
Heiko Bleher (born October 18, 1944) is a German researcher, author, photographer and filmmaker best known in the scientific community for his contribution to the exploration of fresh and brackish water habitats worldwide and the discovery of many species of freshwater fishes and aquatic plants. He inherited this passion from his mother, Amanda Flora Hilda Bleher who was the daughter of Adolf Kiel, the “Father of Water Plants” and pioneer of the modern aquarium starting in 1887, who established the world’s largest plant and ornamental fish farm in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in 1900. In 1962, when Bleher was 19, he moved to the US and later attended the University of South Florida, studying courses in ichthyology, biology, limnology, oceanography and parasitology, combined with the work at Elsberry’s Fish Farm and at Gulf Fish Farm. Two years later, after his return to Rio de Janeiro, Bleher established his own export company, “Aquarium Rio,” and continued his research and collecting throughout Brazil.

Fish that carry his name or are named in honor of his family include Hemigrammus bleheri (named for him), Leporinus bleheri, Bleheratherina pierucciae, Streatocranus bleheri, Channa bleheri, Phenacogrammus bleheri, Moenkhausia heikoi, Chilatherina bleheri, Vriesea bleheri (a plant in the Bromeliad family - rjs) and Hyphessobrycon amandae (named for his mother).