Penn State University Cichlid Cataloging Project 2011-2012

In 2011 the Ohio Cichlid Association funded the cataloging of all previously un-cataloged specimens in over 3200 collections housed at Penn Sate University in Pennsylvania, USA. The continuation of this project in 2013 will result in the cataloging of all currently un-cataloged videos marrying the current specimens in the Penn State Museum with a live video of their natural behaviors. These two tools will be invaluable assets in the description and study of cichlids! Thanks to your donations, these might be the only physical specimens and record of natural behavior left for study in the future.

Due to overfishing, many species are being lost daily, never to return. Below are some photos that illustrate the size of the collection and a couple of close-ups of some specimen containers.

Accession (adding to the collection)

All photos courtesy of Jay Stauffer

Below are two sample containers from one of the 3200 collections which comprise over 50,000 individual specimens.

Each specimen container contains multiple examples of a species. Note that the top container has 20 Melanachromis auratus and the bottom container has 25 Metriaclima chrysomallos. Some day these specimens that your donations helped fund may be the only existing examples of these fish.