KILLIFISH ASSOCIATIONS IN THE WORLD

Go directly to LIST of associations.       Read first proposed code of ETHICS for dedicated hobbyists.

To become a member of at least one Killifish Association is a MUST

As a current member you will benefit against a minor fee of solid advices from friends, you will be able to acquire fish or eggs from serious breeders… and if you are motivated, you can even become automatically a member of Killi-Data (with your association number or sponsorship by one of its BOT member) and access to its unique database, after REGISTRATION. 

Hereafter is the currently available list of Killifish Associations, worldwide, with, when known and as provided by each concerned association :

• country of origin (specialization : oviparous or viviparous killifish);
• abbreviation and full name;
• date of foundation;
• title of magazine and its periodicity per year;
• annual subscription fee for, if variable, citizen and foreign members;
• website, if any.

Please note that websites are nowadays less attractive or fashionable or trendy than Facebook or Twitter platforms, then if a link is herein broken or all pages look old, please try and search in Facebook or Twitter with the name of the concerned association (note to associations managers : the author-editor is not an aquarist, then contact him at the end of this page for any update).
Please note that some associations have a little larger scope than Cyprinodontiformes in its present scientific definition, e.g., Adrianichthyidae (a small family) in Beloniformes for oviparous fishes, and-or Hemirhamphidae (a small family) in Beloniformes for viviparous fishes may also be included in their contents.

Last update: January 1. 2020

Any updated information, please contact the author-editor, Jean H. Huber (mailbox at the end of this page).
Directors of Killi-associations, this page is for you ! Any important information may be added, according to your needs.

Proposed code of ethics for dedicated hobbyists

1. Begin with maintaining and breeding a single population with at least 3 young pairs (not only 1 pair or trio), preferably from different renown breeders of the same species-population compatible with your experience (easy to advanced). Avoid the pitfalls of the collector syndrome, i.e. the sick mentality of keeping excessive populations, with poor end results.
2. Distribute the resulting offspring first to serious breeders, if the population is new, rare and-or difficult ; if it is easy, do not forget the beginners ; do not give up the strain, until you have succeeded with at least 20 pairs of the F3 generation ; and discard any weak and atypical individual (with strange or deviating pattern), just as it happens in nature.
3. Spell correctly your fishes' names : population, species, genus (whichever one you select for the latter) ; check with Killi-Data or recent scientific publications, then quote them accurately when forwarding fish or eggs. Never write a code name (e.g., TAN95-8) alone, without the name of the population : risks of errors are too high. Never write a new name in a publication of yours without being sure it has been actually and validly described before. Never write a population name in italics, following a genus name (in both cases, this would create a nomen nudum).
4. Accept the fact that only the population name is permanent ; welcome the evolutions and improvements in taxonomy ; be prepared to switch the specific and the generic names, when new findings, based on facts and not debatable personal opinions, are published, and after a certain consensus on the move has occurred.
5. Be tolerant… people are different because of their country of origin, their culture, their education, their psychology, etc. Their approaches to the study of complicated living beings like Killies, oviparous or viviparous, are, not surprisingly, distinctive ; do not get involved in disputes which are sometimes futile and let time decide the issue ; be flexible in the case of provisionally unavoidable controversies : mention the two names, the second being in brackets, like Aphyosemion bualanum [elberti] - Ndop, or Moema staecki [Pterolebias] -Januaria, but definitely not Moema [Pterolebias] staecki which means Pterolebias is a subgenus of Moema ! (also please, for those alternatives, avoid usage of parentheses like Moema staecki (Pterolebias) because parentheses have an official meaning according to ICZN code).
6. Follow strictly the rules in the Code of the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature (I.C.Z.N.) when they concern you ; abandon immediately the names that have been officially rejected (e.g., Roloffia, Lebias, Leptolebias sandrii).
7. Make your own contribution to the knowledge of the fishes in your tanks : a lot is still to be understood in terms of productivity, behaviour, life expectancy, spawning period, sex ratios, egg development, colour pattern variation, etc. (read in details what you could bring as aquarium LHT data). Write down your observations immediately and do not rely on your memory ; publish measurable, verifiable, repeatable data if possible, with your interpretation of them separate: do not fear errors, since progress in knowledge is never continuous and straight forward !
8. Join killi- or livebearers-associations, and not only from your own country, if you can read foreign languages : this will bring you different views, experiences, new friends and fishes ; take part in the life of the association, such as local group meetings and the annual convention : you will share rewarding experiences ; you will cease being isolated.
9. Co-operate with scientists : most of them started by being a beginner in the hobby and therefore will be amenable to your approaches ; if you are experienced and rigorous, you may undertake interesting crossing experiments or studies like aquarium LHT data following their precise recommendations ; if you go on collecting trips, you may bring them new material, new species, new collecting places, plus field observations in terms of ecology, food or behaviour, and genuine new information about distribution, local names, new roads, etc. If you are an expert breeder, you may want to join international specialist groups, perhaps to take part in in-depth team experiments and conservation programs (this is extremely important today with the ecological crisis and so many species that are endangered or extinct). Be proud of the achievements of your fellow aquarists : a comparison with levels of knowledge in other aquarium fish groups speaks for itself, and the wealth of the museum collections due to them bears indisputable witness to this fact.
10. Be enthusiastic and positive in all your activities, especially for your primary objective : taking care of your fishes ; if the routine exasperates you, then reduce the load until the vital interest and involvement return ! Your own small contribution is valuable to the furtherance of our knowledge of Cyprinodontiformes, whenever they are oviparous or viviparous.