Ariel Puentes was born in Argentina, he works as a Computer systems engineer. His passion for the cichlids began in his earlier years when he used to go collect Cichlasoma facetum and Gymnogeophagus meridionalis with his father, in a river near his town. Nowadays, he is working with native Argentinian species and he is the editor of "Ciclidos On line" Web Page. Ariel is married since 1997 and he has two children.