Planet Catfish Announcement: 1 November 2004

[Silurus]

All~

Well, what a month it has been for catfish folks. Perhaps the first global catfish meet has come and gone and, truly, it was a great thing! Many of the planet catfish community alongside many of the great and good of the catfish world gathered in a small town outside of Washington D.C. in the USA and enjoyed excellent talks, a deep immersion in all things catfish and, best of all, we all met people we had only corresponded online with previously.

I say only, but this perhaps sells it a bit short. Apart from meeting again old friends, many old online friends met for the first time in the real world. The whole thing has certainly reenergised me personally and, judging by the groaning noises coming from my inbox, has affected others in the same way. Also on a personal note, I got to meet a catfish from the genus Notorus, the American Madtom, for the first time and that was a great thrill.

I donâ??t think a single person came away from the event not having seen a few or many catfish they had never seen before and I am certain no one left with anything less than a positive feeling. Well done to the organisers, the PVAS!

As you may have guessed, this sidetracked me a bit this month and I am very grateful indeed to have the cotm for this month from Heok Hee. The truly delightful Hyalobagrus flavus gets its overdue month in the spotlight, a fitting star for the 100th catfish of the month. I have also managed to squeeze in a few pictures from the Far East, most notably China and the North Indian Pseudecheneis sulcatus â?? another catfish I met for the first time in 2004.

The experience has also allowed me to formulate ideas on things to do on the site in the coming year and that change is well underway as previously intimated in these announcements. Weâ??ve welcomed new moderators to the forum and, sadly, seen long time PlanetCatfish contributor Yann Fulliquet bow out gracefully from catfish land for a while.

Who knows what the next few months bring!