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| The American Cichlid Association’s annual convention (held in Sacramento)
has just finished up and attendees were treated to a fine selection of
stunning cichlids in the show. In addition to a strong field of Neotropical
and East African cichlids, there were large numbers of West African and
Madagascar entries, reflecting the increased interest in these areas.
In fact, a West African Tilapia brevimanus (owned by Jim Ellenberger)
took away the Best in Show award. Hard work by lots of people and
contributions from many individuals and manufacturers (including Cichlid
News) helped to make the event a success.
In this issue, we have a nice mix of something old and something new.
Juan Miguel talks about the Central American Jack Dempsey, one of the earliest
fishes in the hobby while Ad Konings describes Astatotilapia calliptera,
another stalwart of the hobby, but coming from Lake Malawi. Both
are excellent fishes for beginning cichlid hobbyists, yet each is unique.
The Jack Dempsey is a biparental substrate brooder, while A. calliptera
is a maternal mouthbrooder. Thomas Andersen dives into the details
of Xenotilapia ochrogenys and its close relatives from Lake Tanganyika,
making the case that X. sp. “ochrogenys ndole” is in fact a distinct
species (that should properly be called X. singularis), based on
observations in the wild and in the aquarium. Finally, Anton Lamboj
takes us to West Africa to look at Divandu albimarginatus, a rare
and intriguing fish from the Congo that was only recently been described.
Anton tells us about collecting the fish as well as his attempts to work
with this larvophilic mouthbrooder in tanks. As always, enjoy!
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Ron Coleman, Editor
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