| We begin our second decade of publication with a resumption of our
tour of “primo” dive sites in Lake Malawi. This time our expert guide,
Ad Konings, takes us to Chizumulu Island and surrounding reefs, off the
coast of Mozambique. Well-represented in the hobby due to collecting efforts
by Stuart Grant’s dive teams, the cichlids of this area are diverse and
colorful. My question is when are we going to figure out how to get a hold
of those gold compressiceps?
Such a dilemma is touched upon, at least tangentially,
by Charles Kacirek in an article entitled “Wild or Captive-Raised? Choose
your Pleasure.” Charles has extensive experience exploring and collecting
cichlids in both Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika, but was pleasantly surprised
to spend time recently at a cichlid breeding facility in Florida. The result
is a discussion of the advantages that captive-raised stocks can (but don’t
always) have over taking your chances with (usually more expensive) wild-caught
fishes.
Next, we return to Lake Tanganyika where Eric Genevelle
recounts his experiences diving in the company of one of the giants of
the cichlid world, Boulengerochromis microlepis. Eric has spoiled
us with a series of reports stemming from his visit to this enchanting
lake. His and Ad’s accounts sure make it tempting, especially at this time
of the year, to make (and keep!) that new year’s resolution to plan your
own trip to East Africa. I can assure you it’s the trip of a lifetime.
To complete the issue, Uwe Römer, an apisto expert,
introduces us to Apistogramma diplotaenia, a little-known and hard
to keep dwarf cichlid that lives predominantly over sandy substrates in
its native Brazil. And in his Cichlids and Science essay, Ron Coleman
examines the mechanics of predation in a variety of cichlids; as usual,
things are almost never as simple as they appear. And to close, there’s
always What’s New.
Happy New Year to all.
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