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| If you ever worried that sooner or later there would not be
anything new in the world of cichlids, rest assured that is not
happening any time soon. It seems that the more we know, the more we
find out that we did not know, and the discoveries just keep on coming.
This current issue is no exception. We start out with Ad Konings’
discussion of the amazing world of sex determination in the
orange-blotch (OB) cichlids from Malawi. I will not spoil it, but
suffice it to say that if you keep any of the OB cichlids, there are
weird things going on in your tanks! Patrick Tawil investigates the dual nature of the fishes of the genus Telmatochromis from Lake Tanganyika. Some are hefty, toothy “dog-faced” cichlids, while others are delicate and graceful. Ted Judy then takes us on an exploration of the Campo Region in southern Cameroon, and sure enough, there are new things there, including a new species of Parananochromis. Finally, Uwe Werner takes us to southern Brazil, to the Pantanal, to look at a little known color form of Laetacara dorsigera. Here again, there are new things to be discovered. Not only are these fish colored differently than other forms of this species, but it appears that they behave quite differently as well, with the males providing much of the direct brood care, and the female patrolling the territory. We are fortunate to be interested in such a diverse and intriguing family of fishes, which seems to hold new surprises every time and everywhere we look. |
Ron Coleman, Editor  |
