Cichlid Room Companion fellow 2014: Rico Morgenstern

Rico Morgenstern, fellow of the Cichlid Room Companion.

My best wishes to all of you and your loved ones for a happy, healthy, and productive year in 2014. The Cichlid Room Companion will make its 18th year online this May, I can hardly believe it has been so long since we went online, and yet I see so many things to be done and I have so many projects to make it even better. The Cichlid Room Companion is surely a never-ending enterprise, that is, as far as we are favored with your visits. Many thanks to all of you, who have kept your interest in the Cichlid Room Companion, which is reflected in the ever-growing number of visits.

My invitation remains open to anyone of you who would like to collaborate with this growing project. There are many ways to accomplish that; either with quality pictures (both of fish and habitats), translations into your language, handling references, sending us scans or illustrations of species, and any other way you can think of! You are most welcome to contact me, and we can arrange a way for how you can enjoy your collaboration the most; your work will be fully recognized and properly credited.

As usual I present in the first editorial of the year our new Cichlid Room Companion fellow, a person who has been a collaborator of the site for many years and has decisively helped in making the site better with his many species profiles, pictures, documents, and advice. This year that is Rico Morgenstern from Germany. Rico has been an aquarist since he was eight years old and a cichlid lover since he was thirteen. Rico is especially interested in studying the popular and scientific literature on cichlids, with a focus on history and taxonomy. His extensive knowledge has been a great asset to the site. Even before anybody would talk about Ortochromis species from East Africa, Rico had already made extensive research on them and filled up their profiles on the site. An important amount of hard-to-find information and taxonomic records that we offer were researched by him, a very tedious and meticulous work.

In the Cichlid Room Companion, Rico has up to now provided engaging profiles of no less than 155 species and 12 genera. This is an amazing amount of information that would account for more than a book. Additionally, each one of Rico’s profiles is a gem of information that was produced after long and thorough research. I feel honored and very lucky to have his support, and glad that I can recognize him in this way.

Thank you, Rico!