With an estimated 3000 species, distributed from Central and South America, across Africa to Madagascar, the Middle East, and southern India, cichlid fishes (Cichlidae) represent the most species-rich family of vertebrates, accounting for about 10% of extant teleost diversity. Throughout their distributional range, cichlids have repeatedly demonstrated their capacity for undergoing adaptive radiation, generating an outstanding variation of body shapes, colour patterns, and behaviour, and an enormous diversity of trophic and ecological specializations, making them an important model system for evolutionary biology. With the completion of the first cichlid genomes in the foreseeable future, cichlid fishes will receive even more attention in evolutionary research. We invite investigators to contribute original research as well as tutorial or review articles that seek to advance our knowledge of mechanisms underlying processes generating and maintaining the tremendous diversity of cichlid fishes. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Advances in phylogenetics, phylogeography, and population genetics
• Genomic and transcriptomic research
• Role of behavioral and ecological specializations in cichlid diversification
• Physiological/morphological adaptations to particular environments
• Importance of hybridization for generating diversity
• Sexual versus natural selection
• Evolution of developmental mechanisms

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