CICH Lidae is not a commercial site with a “contact us” button at the top of the page. The platform functions as a community database powered by identified contributors, each having their own profile. Finding the right contact information requires understanding this decentralized architecture before searching for a form that often does not exist in the expected format.
Decentralized architecture: why the CICH Lidae contact page is not enough
Most editorial sites centralize their contact information on a single page. CICH Lidae adopts a different model: each author has their own profile page, featuring their publications, photos, and sometimes a means of direct contact. The site is more akin to a collaborative encyclopedia than a traditional portal with customer service.
This structure presents a concrete problem. An aquarist looking to contact the platform for a taxonomic question or a correction of a record may not necessarily find an answer through a generic address. The most reliable path is through the author pages, where contributors like Ad Konings highlight their work and remain reachable via their professional network.
To quickly access contact information on CICH Lidae, we recommend combining the consultation of the dedicated page with targeted searches on the profiles of active contributors, who concentrate the site’s real expertise.
Contributor profiles and cichlid forums: the two operational channels
Two channels allow for a concrete response when trying to reach the actors behind CICH Lidae or similar databases.
Author pages on the platform
The first instinct is to navigate to the profile section. Each species record published on CICH Lidae is signed. By clicking on the author’s name, you access their personal page. This page gathers their publications, photographs, and, in some cases, a link to their networks or institutional address.
Contact goes through the author of the record, not through a centralized service. This is a point that popular articles on cichlids systematically overlook. When the question concerns a genus identification or a collection locality at Lake Tanganyika, the specialized contributor remains the only relevant contact.
Specialized cichlid forums
Forums like Cichlidsforum remain, in practice, the primary way to find contact details for clubs, regional associations, or resource persons related to Cichlidae. A discussion thread titled “contact Brittany cichlids” illustrates this mechanism well: aquarists post requests for connections, and active members provide the necessary links.
We observe that these forums function like a living directory, more responsive than a static page. For a question about a pair of cichlids from Lake Tanganyika or an Apistogramma female to identify, posting on a specialized forum often generates a response within a few hours.
- Consult the official contact page of the site to check for the presence of a form or a generic email address
- Identify the author of the relevant species record and access their contributor profile
- Post a targeted request on a French-speaking cichlid forum specifying the species, genus, and locality
- Contact national associations (like AFC in France) that maintain direct links with contributors of the databases
Common mistakes when searching for contact on Cichlidae databases
Sending a generic message to an “info@” address almost never produces a response. These addresses, when they exist, are rarely monitored on community platforms. The volume of spam they receive renders them inoperative.
Another common mistake is confusing the different platforms bearing the name Cichlidae. Cichlidae.com, Cichlidae.be, and the multiple regional databases do not share the same editorial team or contributors. A message sent to one will not reach the responsible parties of the other.
We recommend always checking the exact domain name before sending a message. Fish species records from the Cichlidae family circulate between several sites, and a record seen on an aggregator may come from a completely different source. Tracing back to the original publication helps avoid contacting the wrong person.
Structuring your request for a quick response
The response rate on community platforms largely depends on the quality of the initial request. A vague message like “I’m looking for info on an African cichlid” will be ignored. Specialized contributors respond to specific questions.
An effective request includes several concrete elements:
- The full scientific name of the species (genus and specific epithet), for example, Neolamprologus labrosus rather than “a fish from Tanganyika”
- The exact reference of the record or description consulted on the site
- The context of the request: breeding in an aquarium, identification of a female, collection locality in Africa, taxonomy of a particular genus
- A clear photo if the question concerns identification, indicating the visible dorsal fin and the estimated size of the specimen
Volunteer contributors prioritize documented requests. A structured message with a photo and a genus name receives a response much more often than an open question without context.
Searching for a contact on CICH Lidae or any community database of Cichlidae relies on understanding their editorial model. These platforms do not operate like a commercial service. Going through author profiles, mobilizing specialized forums, and formulating precise requests remains the most reliable method to obtain the sought information.
