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We remove Xenotilapia sp. 'papilio katete' from out catalog since we judge that relatively small differences in coloration should not be enough to separate species. Additionally, Heinz Büscher (personal communication to Ad Konings) was not able to find any meaningful morphological difference between the proposed species and Xenotilapia papilio.

Because of the suggestion by Thomas Andersen (2015), we have decided to include in our cichlid catalog the potentially undescribed species Xenotilapia sp. ‘bathyphilus yellow’. This form has been considered a geographical variant of Xenotilapia bathyphilus until now. According to Andersen, this potentially undescribed species differs from the nominal X. bathyphilus by the yellow color of the lips (versus blue), but most noticeably in the breeding behavior. X. bathyphilus constructs and maintains a peculiar territory with sometimes more than 10 cm tall turrets made by heaped-up sand. In contrast, males of the Xenotilapia sp. ‘bathyphilus yellow’ neither construct any sand-scrape spawning site nor are they territorial, but they court females and spawn with them whenever their encounter occurs.

We are now offering a new report on indexed cichlid magazines (those publications for which we try to have all references included). In this report you can request the index of all issues and their content of a given publication in a select volume. This is additional to the report of a given publication issue where you can additionally get the species treated.

We are now starting to offer videos for localities besides those of a particular species found in a locality which we were already offering. These videos will show the habitat at the locality and locality overviews with several fish species included, both cichlids or also other fish. We invite you take a look at the cool video by Ad Konings of a stingray at Igarapé Barirí in the Rio Negro.

Based on the new paper by Caleb D. McMahan et al (2014), we have included what has been known as Cryptoheros coatepeque in the synonymy of C. nigrofasciatus. The authors, using molecular and morphological characters, have found that C. coatepeque is phylogenetically nested within the clade of C. nigrofasciatus.

Based on the new publication by Anton Lamboj et al (2104), we have re-validated the taxon Pelvicachromis kribensis to represent the Cameroonian populations of P. taeniatus, which has been restricted to the populations in eastern Benin and Nigeria. We have also included in the catalog the new taxon Pelvicachromis drachenfelsi which now represents the former P. taeniatus population of the Wouri river in Cameroon.

Based on the proposal by Ad Konings (1998), we have decided to reclassify in our cichlid catalog Lamprologus meleagris as a junior synonym of exLamprologus stappersi. Small morphological differences between these two taxa can be better explained as geographical variations of a single species rather than as support for two separate taxa. Until new evidence would show the need to again separate them, we take this step.

We have included today three new potentially undescribed species to our cichlid catalog; namely Pseudocrenilabrus sp. 'lufubu a', Ortochromis sp. 'chomba' and Telmatochromis sp. 'lufufu', we support the records in recent publications by Adrian Indermaur [DATZ. v. 2014(n. 10), pp. 16-23] and Stephan Koblmüller et al [African Zoology. v. 47(n. 1), pp. 182-186]. We have added beautiful pictures for each species. These species are so unique that even the genera they are placed in are tentative!.

A new report is offered in each species profile to show a list of species that inhabit syntopically (at the same place). The list of syntopic species is based on the locality assignment for each one of them, and hence will be in many cases incomplete, but we will improve it every day. The report is available by clicking on a new tab 'syntopic' in each species profile (present when syntopic species are available).

Today the Cichlid Catalog offers 13,000 cichlid pictures, most of them taken in natural habitat. This is independent of locality pictures. Thanks to all of your for your support that made it possible.

In order to provide a better overview of the localities where a given species inhabits, we have provided a new report with the illustrated localities we have for a certain species. It is found as a new tab ‘localities’ in each species profile, separated from the ‘map’ tab, that shows the distribution on a map and the supporting authoritative references. When you click on a thumb of a locality picture in the new report, you get redirected to the locality page, where you find (if available) more pictures, information and species that inhabit the selected locality.

We have decided to accept Takahashi’s (2008) proposal to distinguish what we referred to before as Bentochromis tricoti as a different species. The types of that species, collected during the mission “Hydrobiologique belge au lac Tanganika (1946-1947)”, represent a deep water species that we have never seen alive. We are removing today Benthochromis horii from the synonymy of B. tricoti, which was proposed by Patrick Tawil in 2008. We have re-evaluated the diagnosis for B. horii, as it has been suggested by Thomas Andersen (Andersen, 2013) and which was recently confirmed by Ad Konings (personal communication). The difference between B. horii and the other two Benthochromis species is best appreciated in the angle of the mouth. In B. horii the lower jaw makes an angle of about 50° with the body axis while this angle in B. melanoides and B. tricoti is about 60°. The mouth in B. tricoti is entirely below the body axis while in B. melanoides and B. horii the mouth is entirely or for more than 50% above it. Males of the different species can easily be distinguished by their color pattern. Males of B. horii are characterized by three horizontal, light-blue stripes on the flank with the lower across the base of the pectoral fin. B. melanoides males lack any horizontal stripes while B. tricoti only has two, and lacks the lower stripe across the pectoral fin base (Andersen 2013). For more details about this please consult the species profiles.

We now offer distribution maps for genera! Maps are based on certified localities for each species (present of past). Each species is shown in one color and legends are found below the map. Almost all genera have now this utility active, and those which do not have it yet will have it soon. We will keep adding localities for species based on authoritative reference, pictures/videos in situ and museum collection records. This is an area we will give priority attention in the coming months. Go to the catalog and click on the distribution tab in each genus profile.

Today we officially make public our long awaited glossary. Links to the glossary can be found in the catalog and library left-bar indexes. We hope it can be of use and help in obtaining a better understanding on the terms related to cichlids and ichthyology in general. We are starting our glossary with 500 terms related to ecology, taxonomy, phylogeny, geology, and basically every related area. We will be adding often more terms, as well as better functionality. A big thanks to Piotr Koba for his important collaboration in this endeavor.

As a member of the Cichlid Room Companion we have a very special offer for you. The last 30 copies of the classic book "Malawi cichlids in their natural habitat (3th edition)" in Cichlid Press stock, at an unbeatable price of 18 USD!!! (plus shipping). This offer is for a limited time and not coming back (these are the last books available).

Take action now!!. Make sure you are logged in to see the offer.

Shipping cost: United states: $3.95 USD. Rest of the world: $23.95 USD.

We now list cichlid species by ecoregion in the catalog. The species list in most cases is however incomplete as we are continually adding reliable distribution records for each cichlid species, but it is a good start to give a clear image of cichlid distribution. This new utility adds to species distribution maps that we added last year.

Today the Cichlid Room Companion makes 18 years online. I want to thank all of you that have supported the site over all these years. It is really amazing, and after all this time, like in the beginning, we are not short of new projects for the site!! All is possible with your support. I want to thank again Jon Benn who gave me the server space and support during the first years.

In the past days we have achieved to reach the staggering number of 12,000 pictures in the Cichlid Room Companion cichlid catalog alone, besides those in all other areas of the site. Frankly, when I started the site in 1996 I never dreamed to achieve this number of pictures, particularly taking into consideration that these are not just any regular cichlid picture. All are beautiful pictures, most of them are taken in natural habitats by the best underwater cichlid photographers (a very expensive approach), or they show particular conditions in a home aquarium as seen by world class aquarists. Most are already determined by qualified specialists. For many years it took me an hour just to edit, classify and upload five of these pictures. I am now myself amazed that we can count with this highly valuable cichlid treasure I didn't even think it would be possible for me to see. Of course, the goal is now set higher. Thanks to all of you for your support!!.

Species distribution maps now classify localities according to the status of the species, green for native, red for exotic, black for extinct, yellow for type locality.

Beginning today, we have established a self-signed certificate to optionally establish secure communications between your computer and the Cichlid Room Companion site (including the forum and Ask Pam sections). The purpose of this certificate is not to have an authority to guarantee you that you have connected to the real site (just as it is now), but to securely encrypt the communications between you and our servers. To be able to take advantage of this certificate all you have to do is use the prefix https:// instead of the regular http:// prefix when connecting to the Cichlid Room Companion. As the certificate is self-signed, your browser won’t recognize us as authority and will warn you about it, all you have to do then is to accept the certificate and ask the browser to remember the action. Once you have connected, all your browsing in the site will be encrypted. I hope this functionality can be of use to you.