| We open the new year on a sad note, as last November we learned of
the passing of the noted French cichlidologist, Jean-Claude Nourissat.
I first “met” Jean-Claude in early 1993 when he contacted me to ask if
we would be interested in publishing his accounts of collecting cichlids
— with his great friend, Patrick de Rham — in Madagascar. Naturally I eagerly
accepted his offer, as at the time virtually nothing had been reported
in the hobby on Malagasy species for many years. And for their work over
the last ten years, we have Jean-Claude and Patrick to thank for much of
what we now know about the natural history of these wonderful fishes. We
extend our deepest sympathies to Jean-Claude’s family and friends; he will
be sadly missed.
Perhaps we can dedicate this issue to Jean-Claude, as it certainly reflects
the spirit of adventure and enthusiasm he lived by. First, first-time contributor
Nick James from Grahamstown, South Africa, has broken new ground in exploring
virtually unknown areas (to us!) of southwestern Africa; we can only hope
that he follows up with accounts on husbandry of some of the novel species
he’s collected in these areas. Next, Randall Kohn continues his series
of articles on new forms from West Africa with a review of the genus Parananochromis.
For Neotropical buffs, Willem Heijns relates his experiences with setting
up Nicaraguan cichlids in large community tanks and watching what happens.
Finally, Ad Konings reports on the cichlid fauna of Cape Nangu, a little-known
site in Zambia, and Martin Geerts tells us more about Jean-Claude Nourissat’s
life and career in the hobby. |
