Here's a quick update on the our last two events. First, we had our August Cottage Meeting/Family Picnic at Chuck and Norma Stifel's house. Second, we had Tomas Hrbeck speak at our September meeting

What a fun day! Chuck and Norma graciously opened their home to about two dozen folks on a beautiful August afternoon. Club members, their spouses and children all had a great day. For some, it was a first chance for the spouses to associate a face with the names they have been hearing about after each meeting. For others, it was a chance to renew old acquaintances. The kids took advantage of the swings, slides, trampoline and the pool.

At various points during the day, club members migrated down to Chuck's fishroom to see what's in his tanks. Chuck has a well-organized fishroom with dozens of tank, including two racks of fifteen gallon tanks he picked up at a local fish store that went out of business. Lively discussions ranged from various setup techniques to proper identification of some new South American annuals in his tanks.

A special thanks go out to Chuck and Norma for hosting the event, as well as their entire family who helped setup and grill the food.

Tomas Hrbek from Washington University in St. Louis, MO, was our guest speaker at the September meeting. Tomas is doing mitochondrial DNA analysis of many South American killifish to determine their relationships. He did a marvelous job of taking a very technical topic and making very understandable for the layman. His research is showing two important findings. One, that annualism, or egg diapause, in South American killifish has actually evolved twice, first in the two oldest parts of the continent, the Guyana and Brazilian shelves. Than again in the lowlands when non-annual killies invaded new territories as waters receded from the continental plate. Two, DNA evidence indicates that the Rivulus genus is actually comprised of six or seven distinct groups of fish that are not closely related genetically. Such a finding, while not surprising to many Rivulus keepers, will likely require years of sorting out to clean up. Tomas is in the process of publishing his findings. He has indicated that he plans to submit a summary to JAKA.

Our next meeting is on November 13, 1998. Jay Dryan, from Champaign, IL. will be the speaker that evening. His topic is tentatively titled, "Collecting in Columbia, when and when not to."

The Chicago Killifish Association meets bimonthly on the second Friday of each odd-numbered month at 8 PM at the Days Inn O'Hare, 3801 N. Mannheim Rd., Schiller Park, IL. 60176, the same location as our annual show. The meeting room is in the upper level ballroom unless there is another booked engagement (i.e., wedding reception), when we move our meeting to the lower level.

The meetings last for about 2 to 3 hours starting with club business followed by the speaker. Then after a short break we conclude with a raffle and a mini-auction. Some members meet after the club meeting for a bite to eat at a nearby restaurant, usually Sally's Pancake House on Harlem Avenue, just south of the Kennedy Expressway.