This issue is chock-a-block full of great articles! We start with Part 2 of Hans van Heusden’s account of collecting riverine cichlids in Zambia. (Part 1 appeared in the July 2014 issue.) Hans introduces us to several more as yet undescribed species of Orthochromis that he and travel companion Ulrich Schliewen discovered in their exploration of this unique African habitat.
It was my distinct pleasure to meet and hear regular Cichlid News contributor Patrick Tawil at the July ACA Convention. In this issue, he shares with us the unfolding taxonomic status of several of the Cyprichromis species, and specifically Cyprichromis sp. ‘Kibishi’.
My dear friend Juan Miguel Artigas Azas, with whom I also spent time at the ACA convention, shares his experiences ‘swimming with the fishes’ at Laguna Miramar in Chiapas Mexico. Part 2 of his account features the cichlids from the lake. (see Part 1 in the July 2014 issue).
Ad Konings accompanied Juan Miguel at Lake Miramar and witnessed, for the first time in a Neotropical cichlid, the phenomenon of reproductive parasitism. This case involved ‘sneaker’ males of Thorichthys helleri which dart in between a spawning pair to surreptitiously spread their milt over the newly-laid eggs, thus ‘sneaking’ a mating. Ad reports on this serendipitous observation and comments in general on the phenomenon in cichlids.
Oliver Lucanus treats us to photos of and information about newly-imported Apistogramma species from the macmasteri group, a species which has not been newly-imported from the wild in c. 20 years. Lawrence Kent, intrepid collector of Victorian and other African cichlids, shares his list of his favorite six cichlids. Finally, Laif DeMason caps this issue with his regular feature ‘What’s New’. Enjoy your cichlids!
