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This little piece was inspired by another browse through the species section of the Lambourne book on Corydoras catfishes. Here, I shall offer some hints for the aquarist whose collection includes some of the less well-known and less frequently seen (in dealer aquaria at any rate) species.

[1] Corydoras atropersonatus and Corydoras axelrodi travel badly. These two species are very delicate when first imported from the wild, and since there is a good chance that any specimens encountered will be wild caught, the aquarist keeping these two species is advised that the first two weeks of acclimatisation is critical. C. atropersonatus bears considerable resemblance to Corydoras sychri in appearance, but there the similarities end: Corydoras sychri, if encountered, is more likely to be aquarium bred, indeed the first specimens used to describe the species were aquarium specimens from an unknown locality, and sychri is much hardier. Corydoras axelrodi can be confused with Corydoras loxozonus, this latter species being considerably hardier than axelrodi, and loxozonus is sometimes still imported under the incorrect trade name of Corydoras deckeri, a name that has no validity in taxonomic circles.

[2] Corydoras garbei and Corydoras sychri are both known egg-eaters, and indeed are considered notorious in this respect. Spawning of these species therefore needs to take this into account. Furthermore, Corydoras garbei is very shy during spawning, needing copious provision of cover, which accounts for the documentation of the spawning of this species being difficult to obtain, as observing this species spawning is a considerable challenge.

[3] Long-snouted Corydoras species tend to be more stringent in their water chemistry requirements than round-snouted species (with Corydoras panda being a notable exception among the round-snouted species), as the majority of the long-snouted species are found in cooler streams, sometimes fed directly by Andean meltwaters practically devoid of mineral content. The long-snouted species include: Corydoras barbatus (which I have been informed has now been renamed Scleromastyx barbatus), Corydoras macropterus, Corydoras acutus, Corydoras cervinus, Corydoras pastazensis, Corydoras semiaquilus, Corydoras simulatus, Corydoras stenocephalus, Corydoras amapensis, Corydoras treitlii, Corydoras septentrionalis, Corydoras solox, Corydoras ourastigma, Corydoras ellisae and Corydoras narcissus. Of these, the most extreme elongation of the snout is to be found in semiaquilus and pastazensis: these two species are almost 'horse-faced' in appearance. Corydoras narcissus has a colour pattern smilar to the round-snouted Corydoras arcuatus, while Corydoras treitlii resembles a long-snouted Corydoras aeneus. Of the listed species, Corydoras cervinus is absent from the Lambourne book, but appears in the much older Kobayagawa book (illustrated): it remains to be seen if this is a synonym of one of the other species, a superseded taxon or a valid taxon. Long-snouted species (particularly wild-caught specimens) require water with a very low mineral content, especially for breeding: some wild-caught specimens can only be persuaded to spawn in water purified by reverse osmosis! Aquarium bred specimens, if available, are likely to be less stringent in their requirements.

[4] Corydoras elegans is a breeding oddity - it is the only Corydoras catfish that does not adopt the T position! In appearance, it can be confused with Corydoras napoensis (to make matters worse, the two species are sympatric and often caught together in the wild!) and can also be confused with corydoras nanus. However, if specimens bought as elegans adopt the T position, then they are NOT elegans, but one of the two other species! Corydoras elegans engages in intense cleaning activity close to the water surface (movements vigorous enough for the fishes to leap out of the water - keep this species covered during spawning!), and males apparently fertilise eggs by hovering over them and milting them after the female has laid them.

[5] Anyone who is lucky enough to obtain wild-caught Corydoras paleatus will notice something interesting: males have very tall dorsal fins! This characteristic has, sadly, been bred out of most aquarium specimens, which is a pity, because a particularly fine male paleatus with a tall dorsal is a sight to behold!

[6] Corydoras barbatus (see above for the renaming notes) is sexually dimorphic: mature males possess bristles on the pre-operculum. Only one other species of Corydoras shares this feature, namely #corydoras macropterus.

[7] Most Corydoras species possess 3 pairs of barbels, but Corydoras octocirrhus, Corydoras amapensis and Corydoras ceptentrionalis possess 4 pairs of barbels. Check this feature if a dealer claims to have these species in stock!

And with that, I shall leave everyone to enjoy their Corys!


Last edited by Calilasseia at 03-Nov-2004 08:11

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Well written and lots of intersting information, thank you.


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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

More cory info is always nice.
Thanks.

Excellent article, Calilasseia.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

good stuff
thanks
alex

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''All the clown fish and yellow tangs in the world cant save you now!''