Manaus 2003 Day 0

[Silurus]

Here I am in the Hotel Tropical in Manus, where about 2000 people have descended for the ASIH meeting.
I am still a little disoriented and tired from the long flight (with two connections), but already, things are moving and shaking in the catfish world.
I have nothing but good news so far. John Lundberg just told me that the National Science Foundation has agreed to fund the All Catfish Species Project, so there's going to be a lot of money for catfish research real soon. There will be an ACSP "workshop"later this week, so stay tuned for further developments.
I was waiting in line to board the flight from Sao Paulo to Manaus, when I ran into Mario de Pinna. We had a nice chat on the plane (periodically interrupted by the seatbelt lights lighting up), but more interestingly, he was thumbing through a copy of CLOFFSCA (Check List of Freshwater Fishes of South and Central America). I was told that he book was just published a few days ago.
I have no pics so far (we got in quite late in the evening), but tomorrow, a couple of us are heading out to the fish maket. I'll definitely have pics then.