KENNETH R. BOCK (1930-1996): IN MEMORIAMKen R. Bock died on 23 June, 1996, of an inoperable brain tumour. In this issue of the Journal we have included his paper 'Checklist of Reef Fishes of Diani and Galu, Kenya'. Unfortunately, Ken did not live to see the publication of this paper, having died before he had the chance to see the reviewed manuscript. The manuscript was, in fact, submitted in excellent form and the editors decided to publish it more or less as it stood.With his work on the reef fishes of the Kenya Coast and Western Indian Ocean, Ken made real contributions to the literature on the natural history of the marine environment in East Africa. A selected bibliography of his works will be found at the end of this memoriam.Ken Bock was born at King Williams Town in South Africa and was raised in that country. He attended Imperial College of Science, University of London, where he took an Honours Degree in Botany in 1953. Except for a brief stay in England, he spent his whole working life in East Africa and retired in Kenya in 1989. From 1955 to 1963 he worked in Kenya and during that time obtained a PhD from University of London. He continued working in Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi.Ken had a highly successful career as a plant pathologist. He was a meticulous and very successful researcher, who worked on many crops including coffee, sisal, coconuts, maize, cassava and groundnuts. He was an enthusiastic and dedicated scientist and was able to pass this enthusiasm to his work team. Many Kenyan scientists acknowledge the help and encouragement they received from him during the early days of their careers.The aspect of Ken's career that is of most interest here, however, is his parallel career as a marine biologist. He seemed to be a born 'natural historian' and kept meticulous records of observations of plants, birds and animals. His real love, however, was for the coast and in particular the reef and reef fishes. The identification of fish and the study of the populations on the reef and in the lagoons at Diani went on from year to year. This resulted in the publication, in 1978, of the book A Guide to the Common Reef Fishes of the Western Indian Ocean. This guide has been reprinted by Macmillan Press four times and is still on sale and much used. While in Malawi, he also became interested in the chiclid fish of that country and became a supporter of the Wildlife Society of Malawi.On his retirement in Kenya in 1989, the interest in the reef continued and Ken became highly involved with the conservation of reef habitat and the impact of tourism, and all that follows, on the fish and coral populations. He was able to provide the Kenya Wildlife Service planners with much basic information which helped them to decide on the most important areas to be included in Marine Parks and Reserves, mainly on the coast south of Mombasa. He had again, as in his formal career, very good relationships with inexperienced wardens assigned to deal with marine matters, and his wise counsel will be greatly missed.Because of his stimulating and optimistic outlook on life he was able to make even dull subjects interesting and was in frequent demand as a lecturer on natural history subjects.Before his death, he had revised his monograph on the reef fishes of the Western Indian Ocean and was looking for a publisher. He had also completed the manuscript for a 'Guide to the Reef Fish of the Kenya Marine Parks and Reserves'.Ken died peacefully at his daughter's house in UK with his family in attendance, having laughed and reminisced with close friends earlier in the day. Ken was a very good friend to many and will be greatly missed by friends and fellow scientists world-wide.(This memoriam relies almost entirely on notes supplied by Dr Ian Robertson to whom we are deeply grateful.)KENNETH R. BOCK: SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHYReef fish and Marine Conservation1972Preliminary checklist of lagoonal fishes of Diani, Kenya. Journal of the East AfricaNatural History Society and National Museum 137.1973Report to the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Parks of Kenya on Kisite Island.1974Preliminary checklist of the fishes of the South Bank, Kilifi Creek, Kenya. Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society and National Museum 148.1978A guide to the common Reef Fishes of the Western Indian Ocean. Mcmillan Press Ltd., London & Basingstoke.1979Tourism and Kenya's Coral Reef. Swara 2, No. 5.1982Towards a more comprehensive marine conservation plan for Kenya's South Coast: an invited report to the Wildlife Planning Unit, WCMD.Agricultural Research1956with R.W. Rayner. Control of coffee berry disease in Kenya. Nature 78: 217.1958with J.B.D. Robinsson & C. Chamberlain. Zinc deficiency induced in Coffee arabica with mercury. Nature 182: 1607.1960with F.J. Nutman & F.M. Roberts. Method of uredospores dispersal of Hemileia vastratrix. Transactions of the Birtish Mycological Society 43: 63.1962Dispersal of uredospores of Hemileia vastatrix under field conditions. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 45: 509.1962Seasonal periodicity of coffee leaf rust and factors affecting outbreaks in Kenya Colony. Transactions of the Birtish Mycological Society 43: 289.1962 Studies on the control of coffee leaf rust in Kenya Colony. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 45: 301.1964Purple blotch (Alternaria porri) of onion in Kenya. Annals of Applied Biology 54:303.1964Studies of sugarcane smut (Ustilago scitaminea) in Kenya. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 47: 403.1966Arabis mosaic and Prunus necrotic ringspot viruses in hop (Humulus lubulus L.). Annals of Applied Biology 57: 131.1967Strains of Prunus necrotic ringspot virus in hop Humulus lupulus L.). Annals of Applied Biology 59: 437.1970Plant pathology in East Africa. Review of Plant Pathology 49:1.1970with M. Ivory & B. Adams. Lethal bole rot disease in coconut in East Africa Annals of Applied Biology 66: 453.1973East African strains of cowpea aphid-borne mosaic virus. Annals of Applied Biology 74: 7583.1973Peanut mottle virus in East Africa. Annals of Applied Biology 74:171179.1974with E.J. Guthrie & H.Y. Kulkarni. Prification of maize streak virus and its relationship to viruses associated with streak diseases of sugarcane and Panicum maximum. Annals of Applied Biology 77: 289.1796with M. Hollings & O. Stone. Sweet potato mild mottle virus. Annals of Applied Biology 82: 511.1977with E.J. Guthrie & G. Meredith. Clitoria yellow vein virus, a tymovirus from Kenya. Annals of Applied Biology 85: 97103.1977with E.J. Guthrie, G. Meredith and H Barker. RNA and protein components of maize streak and cassava latent viruses. Annals of Applied Biology 85: 305808.1977with Harrison, H. Barker, E.J. Guthrie, G. Meredith & Atkinson. Plant viruses with circular single-stranded DNA. Nature 270: 760762.1978 with E.J. Guthrie & G. Meredith. Viruses occurring in East Africa that are related to peanut mottle virus. Annals of Applied Biology 89: 523.1978with E.J. Guthrie & G. Meredith. Distribution, host range, properties and purification of cassava latent virus, a geminivirus. Annals of Applied Biology 90: 361.1981Purification adnsome properties of Tephrosia symptomless virus. Annals of Applied Biology 97:277283.1981A strain of cassava latent virus occurring in coastal districts of Kenya. Annals of Applied Biology 99: 151159.