One author who has been instrumental in broadening my piscine horizons is none other than Wayne Leibel. As an author who has always inspired me to put pen to paper, his punishment, then, has been to list his six favorite cichlids for the world to see. Hopefully recovered from his mental anguish caused by having to select his six favorite cichlids, Ad Konings returns, as always. In this issue Ad discusses the recent discovery of a new color form of Pseudotropheus heteropictus. This species hasn’t been the most desired of mbuna, but this new form might change all that. The second round of East African coverage is provided by another author familiar to Rift Lake fanatics, Pam Chin, who shares her account of keeping and breeding “blue neon,” Paracyprichromis nigripinnis.  Another mainstay of CN has been the articles of Juan Miguel Artigas Azas. He returns this month with a serious look at a rare Mexican piscivore, Herichthys steindachneri, providing information of interest to both aquarists and taxonomists (though these terms aren’t mutually exclusive). Sticking with the New World theme, from Canada comes a report on a member of one of the most unique-looking cichlid genera as Lee Newman shares his experiences with a group of Guianacara owroewefi. 
  Those readers that I’ve been lucky enough to meet, probably know that my personal obsession lies with the cichlids of western African, so it’s my pleasure to feature not one, but two articles on this increasingly popular region. Randall Kohn discusses what, to some, may be the holiest of Holy Grails: Pierre Brichard’s “red dimidiatus,” now known as Nanochromis sabinae. Steve White returns to present the second half of his article on the mouthbrooding cichlids of the genus Chromidotilapia, this time covering the newest additions from Gabon and Congo. Any converts yet?

  So, as always, sit back and enjoy this issue of Cichlid News. I hope it satisfies your thirst for the beautiful and/or rare.