Articles Index

Malpulutta kretseri
by Mike Hellweg

New to the Hobby Haplochromines
by Greg Steeves

Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki
by Stan Sung

Zoogoneticus tequila
by Andrew Hebert

New to the Hobby Haplochromines

By: Greg Steeves

In recent years, a sector of the cichlid hobby has rocketed in popularity. There is a growing awareness of a group of fish we refer to as ‘haplochromines”. This moniker has its basis in the 1888 description of Haplochromis obliquidens by evolutionary scientist Frans Hilgendorf. Although there are many different lineages of cichlid fish, primarily from East Africa, the term “haplochromis” has become a generic term used to depict a group of quickly evolving mouth brooding cichlid fish that share common ancestry. Whether the interest stems from the smaller size of the brightly colored fish and their ability to so easily adapt to life in our aquariums, or from the growing knowledge that many of these fish no longer exist in the wild and with each passing day, those remaining lose more and more of their habitat, one thing is certain, cichlid hobbyists want these fish in their aquariums!

Haplochromines are not “new” fish. Forty years ago Astatotilapia bloyeti, A. callipterus, and A. burtoni were available. In the 1950’s, Astatotilapia sp. “thick skin” (then erroneously named Haplochromis obliquidens) found their way to the US. In the mid 1980’s exportation of Lake Victoria haplochromines was well underway. A pioneer in this operation was the Swedish collector Bo Selbrink. Ultimately, many of the fish found by Selbrink in Lake Victoria, soon after fell victim to the Nile perch (Lates niloticus). Among the fish he incidentally saved from extinction is Prognathochromis perrieri. This charming little piscivore exists only in captivity today. Sadly, many fish collected during this time are now gone forever. Similar stories can be told of the Whitehead’s in the Kyoga Basin, Les Kaufman and the Lake Victoria Species Survival Plan (LV-SSP) in Lake Victoria’s Ugandan waters, Paul Loiselle in Kenya’s Yala Swamp, and the fish studied in the Southern regions of Lake Victoria by the Haplochromis Ecological Study Team (HEST) and individuals such as Ole Seehausen and Yves Fermon. There have been no frequent cichlid exports from the Lake Victoria region since the 1990’s.

Ironically, the lack of new wild stock into the aquatic hobby has had a positive impact on the haplochromine cichlid fish that are maintained in captivity. Many of us realize that there is no “going back to the well” for more. What we have is what there is. There has been a concretive effort by the hobbyist to learn all that is available, to propagate these fish and establish as many colonies with as many people that is possible. The success of programs such as C.A.R.E.S lies in the recognition that the hobbyist holds the last chance at survival for many species. This is a task that is not taken lightly. There have been many recent success stories showing that the average hobbyist has what it takes to save an entire diverse group of fish from certain extinction.

Now that we have an international network in place to exchange information and cichlid species, haplochromines kept on one side of the Atlantic but not available on the other, moving fish is now an inconvenience, not impossibility. Anton Lamboj has been responsible for establishing transportation networks and he himself has introduced many fish species both from the wild and between continents, to respective aquarists. His efforts have been a huge boost to the hobby as well as to saving dwindling wild populations of cichlid species. We owe the recent establishment of Astatotilapia desfontainii and Astatotilapia flaviijosephi to Anton. He has also mentored people such as Ted Judy and Eric Bodrock in the art of transporting fish internationally. Through these avenues we now have Lipochromis melanopterus, ‘Haplochromis’ cyaneus, Harpagochromis sp. “orange rock hunter” and ‘Haplochromis’
thereuterion.

Another modern day aquatic explorer is a gentleman named Lawrence Kent. Lawrence has been able to reintroduce Psammochromis
riponianus into the hobby. Together with Cory Koch, an incredible cichlid breeder from St. Louis, these two men have been able to establish multiple colonies throughout the US. There will quite possible be more to come from this team in the near future.

In 2007 a glimmer of hope occurred when Laif Demason brought a good sized shipment of fish in from the Mwanza Bay Lake Victoria. We were able to establish stable groups of Mbipia mbipi, Paralabidochromis sauvagei, and Pundamilia nyererei from this. Hopefully we will see another sizeable wild importation to come.

In Germany Erwin Schraml has been able to bring back fish from his travels to Africa. Much as Lawrence has done in the US, Erwin has done in Europe. Eventually, his discoveries usually make it to the North American hobby.

Institutions and organizations such as HEST and the LVSSP sometimes, through unusually complicated avenues, release excess stock from their reserves. These are often fish collected for scientific purposes that, although captivity maintained for many years, have never been introduced to the hobby. Through the efforts of people such as Paul Loiselle, the aquarist will see new fish from these enterprises in the future.

Although there are hundreds of haplochromine cichlids that do not exist in the aquarium hobby, there is an attitude of urgency in some cases to be able to “save” these fish from extinction in the wild by maintaining them in captivity. Perhaps is it better to have new species trickle in. Maybe a massive introduction of new cichlids wouldsubdue the excitement of being able to work with and display these new fish to others. Either way, it is more and more relevant that the responsibility of survival for many haplochromine fish lies with the cichlid hobbyist. Based on recent awareness and successes, I have a good feeling for the long term survival of this entire assemblage of creatures.