The holotype of C. robustus was collected in 1954. © A. Lamboj

The African cichlid genus Congochromis was erected in 2007 to accommodate four species of dwarf cichlid of which three, C. dimidiatus, C. sabinae, and C. squamiceps, are former members of Nanochromis. They’re diagnosable by a combination of morphological and osteological characters, and all are endemic to the Congo River basin. Continue reading »

Two new killifish species are described in the latest volume of the journal ‘Bonn zoological Bulletin’ this week.

Aphyosemion pseudoelegans © Sonnenberg & Van der Zee

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The dream, a superb-looking display full of healthy plants and fishes © Filipe Oliveira

Mark G N Ferguson breaks down an essential process.

1. Sources of Ammonia

2. Sources of Bacteria

3. How to Cycle

4. The Science Bit Continue reading »

© F. P. Ottoni et al.

A new species of the dwarf cichlid genus Laetacara was described in the journal ‘Vertebrate Zoology’ recently, bringing the total number of species in the grouping to seven.

L. flamannellus (Ottoni et al. 2012) is known only from the coastal floodplains of eastern Amapá state, northern Brazil, where it occurs in highly seasonal habitats. Between July and December permanent water is restricted to the major river channels, but during the wet season from January to July these overflow significantly and flood large tracts of the surrounding grasslands and forest. Continue reading »

It is often said that a tiger never loses its stripes, but what about its name? Matt Ford investigates…

Which tiger is this? The aquarium tiger barb appears of questionable identity. © Mike McGeoghegan

Cases in which a fish long thought to be one species turns out to represent something else are not especially unusual within the aquarium hobby. Notable examples include that of the ‘arulius barb’, for many years referred to as Puntius arulius (Jerdon 1849) but now confirmed as Dawkinsia tambraparniei (Silas 1954), and the ‘kuhli loach’, normally identified as Pangio kuhlii (Valenciennes 1846), a species which may never have been traded.
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A number of aquarium favourites have new scientific names following a recent study. Here’s a handy guide to the changes.

The genus Puntius has undergone some major changes. © Hristo Hristov

Barb fans beware; an extensive review of South Asian Puntius spp. published in the latest volume of ‘Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters’ has resulted in a large portion of the genus being split up and many species placed in different genera. Continue reading »

Formerly Puntius padamya, the ‘Odessa barb’ is now renamed Pethia padamya.

The Asian cyprinid genus Puntius is partially revised by Rohan Pethiyagoda, Madhava Meegaskumbura, and Kalana Maduwage in the latest volume of the journal ‘Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters‘.

It contains many popular aquarium fishes and has been considered a ‘catch-all’ polyphyletic assemblage for a number of years with over 220 nominal members of which around 120 are currently valid. They’re distributed throughout tropical South and Southeast Asia but the new study is focussed on those species native to the sub-Himalayan region of  South Asia. Continue reading »

© Ryan O’Donnell

The dwarf cichlid known in the aquarium hobby as Apistogramma sp. ‘black chin’,  ‘Schwarzkinn’, or ‘Pucallpa’ for almost 20 years has been officially described as A. allpahuayo in a paper published in the journal ‘Vertebrate Zoology’. Continue reading »

© C. M. C. Leite

A new species of Crenicichla has been described from the rio Juruena basin, a headwater tributary of the rio Tapajós in Mato Grosso state, Brazil. Crenicichla chica is named in reference to traditional celebrations of the Paresi (or Halíti) people, an indigenous group originally inhabiting the Juruena region.

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We chat with ichthyologist John P. Sullivan about his new research portal for African freshwater fishes.

John is Curatorial Affiliate at the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates, Ithaca, New York, USA, and Research Associate at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, USA. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in several African countries and published numerous scientific papers with a particular focus on ichthyology, phylogenetic systematics and taxonomy of African electric fishes (Mormyridae) and catfishes (Siluriformes).

Alongside Dr. John Friel of Cornell University he has developed a new online resource which launched recently, and SF caught up with him this week to find out more.

Dr. Sullivan on the Ogooué River, Gabon. © J. P. Sullivan

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