We've got a situation where the interests of hobbyists and vendors are outpacing science in describing cichlids.
Hobbyists want to know what they're buying and keeping...and in the case of many that they're keeping them "pure" (i.e. breeding them only with other "like" fish). At some level, hobbyists also like to have something new or exclusive...whether for BAP points, bragging rights or whatever.
This leads right into the interests of vendors, who, of course, want to sell hobbyists all kinds of new, exclusive, rare and interesting fish.
Scientists make their livings (careers) by publishing papers and endlessly debating and reorganizing descriptions of fish. DNA research provides some answers but not others...meristics (counting scales, etc.) others...and observational research (feeding or breeding patterns) still others. New tools and long careers mean that there will be no single answer...probably ever.
The plastic nature of cichlid genetics makes them particularly difficult to describe scientifically, especially using the traditional "type" approach. A single haul of a cast net in Lake Nicaragua could bring in 10 species or 1 depending on how you define species. Lake Victoria is less than 15,000 years ago, which means that the native, endemic species of Lake Victoria have all evolved in this relative blink of an eye. There's evidence that environmental changes in the lake (cloudiness from eutrophication, for example) are already driving adaptations such that present populations of a species are different than past ones.
So what should hobbyists do?
First, enjoy your fish....whether they be wild, F1...from an LFS...or hybrids. There are lots of reasons to keep fish. And nearly none of them must involve verifiably "pure" fish.
Next, ask questions. For fish that are supposed to be wild or offspring of wild fish (whatever generation), whoever's selling or keeping them should be able to tell you where they (or their parents) were collected...Whenever I see a wild fish for sale, I google the location. Does it exist? How did the fish get here? Many Central American countries have stopped or severaly restricted exportation of native fish. What is the status of the native habitat? Some fish are just plain hard to catch (Chuco, sp. catemaco) or rare in the wild. How did whoever caught them do it? Do they have pictures?
I know that this bit of research has led me to learn a heck of a lot more about the native habitats of cichlids and the issues facing them than I would have without asking questions. If you can't get good answers, you should be suspicious.
Finally, do the best you can. Scientific names of cichlids won't be stable. It's never a bad thing to provide more vs. less information when identifying a fish. Where was it collected? Who collected it and when? Keep notes. Try to spell stuff correctly (even if it is in Spanish or Latin). And ask more questions!
Matt
