SAA Study Group Rules
§1. The purpose of the SAA.
1. The purpose of the South American Annual (SAA) discussion/workgroup is to ease the access to South American annual killifish, and to assist in their maintenance in the hobby.
§2. Membership Rules.
1.Membership is free.
2.Membership is maintained by sending an updated list of the participant's species to the appropriate coordinator on a bi-monthly basis, starting in January of the calender year.
3.The members must have access to the mailing list either directly or through another member.
4.The members must have an email adress or have access through another member, in order that they can receive news, data, the SBT-list etc.
5.Members that do not send an up-dated list of their species on request by the coordinators will get a warning. After 3 warnings a member can be banned from the SAA.
§3. The Genus Coordinators.
1.The SAA has four genus coordinators, each having the responsability for a group of generas.
2.Group 1 contains the genera Aphyolebias, Gnatolebias, Pterolebias, Micromoema, Moema, Renova and Trigonectes.
3.Group 2 contains the genera Austrolebias, Megalebias and Cynopoecilus.
4.Group 3 contains the genera Cynolebias, Nematolebias and Simpsonichthys.
5.Group 4 contains the genera Austrofundulus, Neofundulus, Pituna, Rachovia, Campellolebias, Leptolebias, Maratecoara, Millerichthys, Papiliolebias, Plesiolebias, Spectrolebias, Stenolebias and Terranatos.
6.Each of the four coordinators will maintain a species database and send out a bi-monthly species list based on the compiled data submitted by the SAA members starting in January of the calendar year.
7.The Genus Coordinator has oversight over all activities associated with the species in his/her specific group. The primary concern of the coordinator is evaluating the status of the specific species within his/her group and assisting members in maintaining the viability of those species within the group in particular and the hobby in general.
8.The Genus Coordinator may be called on to help match missing mates or assist in starting up breeding or maintenance projects on species within the coordinator's species group.
§4. The Chairman.
1.The Chairman maintains oversight of all activities within the SAA and is accountable for all decisions he/she makes on behalf of the SAA.
2.The Chairman maintains the roster of members of the SAA and records new members who have applied for membership as well as provide each new member pertinant information about membership.
§5. The Committee.
1.The (SAA) Committee is established to manage and make the decisions for operation of the SAA.
2.It is comprised of the Chairman, the Genus Coordinators and contact individuals from the national killifish associations at a minimum; however, membership is open to others upon their written request to and notification by the Chairman.
3.As a rule all business of the Committee must be agreed upon by at least 75% of those participants voting within (some period of time) after a vote has been called by the Chairman. It is the responsibility of the Chairman to place issues up for approval, however, voting may also be requested by Committee members as well as the Chairman.
4.The Chairman has the right to veto any proposal if he/she does not believe it to be in the best interest of the SAA or that a decision may be inappropriate (based on need of additional information) at that time. (A Chairman's veto can be overridden by a vote of 100% of all voting members of the Committee).
§6. Contact Persons for the National Killifish Associations (NKA).
1.Each NKA should have a contact person to the SAA.
2.The contact person must be a member of both the NKA and the SAA.
3.The contact person is responsable for all contact between his NKA and the SAA members that are members there. That includes written information in the newsletter of the NKA and other public service arrangements.
4.He/she must inform the Chairman of the SAA of all SAA related activities when they find that these are of generel interest or can be a model for other NKA or the SAA.
§7. The Mailing List.
1.The mailing list is the forum for the members.
2.The mailing list is used for the discussion of the South American annuals and for other relevant topics like activities within the SAA etc.
3.The language on the list is english.
4.It should be noted that english is not the mother-language for a big part of the members, therefore misunderstandings can happen and it for this reason that the language used be polite and civil. These misunderstanding should as a starting point be understanded polite.
5.It is advised that irony and idiom expressions are avoided. Irony cannot be understanded in its written form and idiom expressions can cause misunderstandings.
6.The language must be polite and any insults will cause a warning.
7.After 3 warnings a member is banned from the list.
8.Also non-members are free to use the list as long as they stick to the same rules as the members. Non-members can be banned after the 2nd warning.
9.It is not allowed to ask for fish on the mailing list.
§8. Sell/Buy/Trade list (SBT-List).
1.Every member of the SAA receives the sell/buy/trade list.
2.Every member has the right to use the SBT-list.
3.The fish asked for on the SBT-list must be South American Annuals.
4.The fish offered on the SBT-list must be South American Annuals.
5.The exception from this is that you can ask for a South American Annual and wish to trade with species from other groups.
6.It is allowed to sell/buy/trade food cultures, books and plants.
§9. Breeding programs (BP) /maintenance program (MP).
1.Members of the SAA are free to initiate a breeding program (BP)/maintenance project (MP) within any area of the SAA's.
2.The purpose of a BP is to develop a substantial and stable population of breeding fish for a particular species. Once a stable population has been reached the BP can and should be converted into a maintenance project (MP).
3.The goal of an MP should be to maintain a stable population of 200 fish (2+ month old juveniles to adults) at any time of a species, subspecies, population or location or variety.
4.Each participating member should strive to maintain a working population of at least 10 pairs of that fish and each MP should have at least 4 participating members.
5.In the case of large annual species where size of the fish impacts on breeding requirements (i.e., genera like Cynolebias, Megalebias, Gnatolebias, Trigonectes, etc.) a total population of 75 may be more appropriate and participants should maintain a minimum of 3 pairs of the species.
6.In the MP phase, adult breeding fish should be available at all times and proper management should have sufficient young fish and fry maturing as well as significant quantities of eggs in storage/development to be phased in.
7.MP members should exchange genetic material periodically and new participants should be provided with as diverse a founding population as can be provided by the members of the MP.
8.The maintenance of records is important and an individual species coordinator for the MP (or BP) should be choosen. In more formal programs, this record is called the Stud Book; however, at a minimum the "Stud Book" should indicate participants and source of the fish entered into the BP or MP.
9.Paticipants must report periodically on the status of their fish at the discretion of the "Stud Book" keeper. For simplicity reporting could be as simple as number of fish (over 3 months of age), number of fish (under 3 months of age), and spawns in development/storage. Sex ratio data for fish over 3 months in age may also be requested.
10.MP's should assume the responsibility to recruit new participants as well as capture/dispose of stock of retiring participants.
11.MP's should report their activities (through the Stud Book keeper) to the Genus Coordinator and the Chairman on a quarterly basis.
12.MP's are encouraged to collect additional information about their efforts including such data as spawning temperatures, incubation temperatures, incubation times, rearing temperatures and sex ratios. Additional data such foods, spawning materials and water quality data would also be helpful.
§10. Honuary Membership.
1.If a person has done an extra effort for the hobby he or she can be a honuary member of the SAA.
2.To become an honorary member they may be nominated by a member of the SAA and approved by a vote of the Committee.
3.A honuary member does not have to send an up-dated list of species to the Genus Coordinator.
§11. The Rules of the SAA.
1.The rules of the SAA are revised annually in January.

2002 © South American Annuals Study Group