Scientific Name

Corydoras pygmaeus  Knaack, 1966     

Common Name(s)

Pygmy Cory

Pronunciation

Kory DOOR ass - pig MAY uss

Etymology

Cory = helmet, doras = skin. In this case it was incorrectly used to mean armour (cuirasse) instead of skin in allusion to the dual rows of plates that run along the flanks of this genus. This specific epithet literally means dwarf (pygmaeus=dwarf).

Size

32mm (1.3") SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.

Identification

Corydoras are identified by their twin rows of armour plates along the flanks and by having fewer than 10 dorsal fin rays. They are most commonly confused with the other genera in the sub-family, namely Brochis, Scleromystax and Aspidoras.

Dark band runs from tip of snout onto the caudal fin of this small species.

Sexing

Females fuller, when viewed from above and larger.

General Remarks

Hardy if diminutive. Acclimatization in soft water helps but generally this is an easy species to keep.

Distribution

South America: Brazil: Rio Madeira
Amazon, Middle Amazon (Solimoes)  , Madeira (hover or click on these areas to show maps or find other species found there)

pH

6.4 - 7.4

Temperature

22.0-26.0°C or 71.6-78.8°F (Show others within this range)

Other Parameters

Prefers slightly soft water.

Feeding

Sinking wafers, flakes, brine shrimp and live black worms if available.

Furniture

Substrate of fine sand or gravel. Open areas of substrate surrounded by plants, rocks and/or bogwood.

Compatibility

A peaceful fish exhibiting typical Corydoras behavior. A mid-water swimming Cory.

Suggested Tankmates

Non-aggressive fish such as small South American Characins.

Breeding

Spawns in pairs or groups, having more than one trio (2 females and one male) increases chances of spawning. Eggs deposited around the tank, on glass and plants. Perhaps prefers plants. Eggs are 1mm in size, female carries only one egg at a time in ventral pouch. One female can lay up to 100 eggs per spawning cycle. C. pygmaeus rarely eat their eggs.

Fry will feed on micro organisms in the tank and on an open sponge filter if present. If hatched out of spawning tank microworms, vinegar eels, rotifers and small daphnia such as Cerio daphnia will be accepted.

References

Aquar. Terrar. Z.v. 19 (no. 6) - pp168 - 2 figs.

Registered Keepers

(1) mummymonkey (k: 112), (2) Keithj, (3) ivokilli, (4) call_apple (k: 3), (5) Coryologist (p: 3), (6) CatBrat, (7) Coryman, (8) GreenSynoMan, (9) philtre, (10) chris 1 (k: 10), (11) FuglyDragon (k: 16), who also notes: "cute as.", (12) loafingloach, (13) cwm, (14) AmLi (k: 10), (15) Kjlossman, (16) Shralp, (17) fulvioander (k: 35), (18) Bigpig (k: 16), (19) Lydia, (20) T4FR (k: 5), who also notes: "I started out with 6 of those little guys, but one sadly died. Sadly they are very shy, perhaps they can beter be kept in a bigger aquarium with 20 or more. 23-12-2008: I haven't seen any of them for months, so I presume they are all dead.", (21) Barracuda518 (k: 15), (22) Carp37 (k: 12), who also notes: "Started with 12 but two sadly failed to acclimate. Remainder lived between 1 and 3 years- not a great success...", (23) Walter, (24) thelivelylady, (25) smithrc, (26) tomh, (27) iramjohn (k: 10), (28) glenny (k: 4), (29) lizimal (k: 2), who also notes: "$4 each, very adorable little guys! Currently living in a 5gal on my desk, with a male Betta. They're getting along fine. Dec 2008 Lost one fish, not sure how.", (30) Lightbringer (k: 3), (31) teddyman5 (k: 6), (32) spot86t, (33) bevans (k: 9), (34) Scubaguy (k: 3), (35) Bill Tuttle, (36) Fishaliciousfish (k: 12), (37) alexmuchtar (k: 2), (38) jar (k: 7), (39) norfolkgarden, who also notes: "Had 5, now down to 1. Need to get him some company. Excellent personality, awesome fish. Likes a group.", (40) Lubbe, (41) jollysue (k: 25), (42) nvcichlids (k: 9), (43) NEONCORY (k: 8), who also notes: "Bought 4 on 8/19 and add 4 more on8/28. Found eggs on 9/6.", (44) apisto-nut, (45) andywg (k: 12), (46) OldMan (k: 7), (47) tophat665 (k: 10), (48) smegforbrains, (49) Koen (p: 2, k: 20), (50) AlaskanCorydoras (k: 5), who also notes: "Bought out all the store had of this fish. . . a pair of them disappeared in my tank for over a month, only to reappear when I added in some Otos. Bought more 1/16/08 ", (51) gem400 (k: 9), (52) Kets (k: 13), (53) Blonde1 (k: 8), (54) arzerkle, (55) NorthHawk (k: 8), (56) Dr zoidberg (k: 5), (57) Humunuku, (58) reneb (k: 2), (59) Travis_Conklin (k: 7), (60) h2opleco, (61) tcmfish (k: 7), (62) Chris5787 (k: 7), (63) madattiver, (64) unotim123, (65) Deb (k: 15), who also notes: "Swims midwater with Otocinclus huaorani. They are very tiny; I doubt they're even 8 weeks old. Ultimately, did not do well in the conditions provided.", (66) jeff@zina.com, (67) ayrtoninst (k: 64), (68) Luis.Ventura, (69) SHEAG35 (k: 20), (70) jha61, (71) bamboosticks (k: 10), (72) Richard B (k: 14), who also notes: "Unexpected spawning has produced fry - unheated natural daylight tank (16x8x8) with monosolenium in.", (73) peterl, (74) vanillarum (k: 12), (75) Tserisa, (76) corycrazy (k: 10), (77) drpleco (k: 15), (78) marangmic, (79) matti2uude (k: 6), (80) jbloom81 (p: 2), (81) MichaelC95, (82) adcc, (83) xander (k: 4), (84) rhibear (k: 6), (85) coelacanth, (86) redcrane, (87) NC24, (88) Vlacek (k: 3), (89) boyneburn (p: 2), (90) Zzyzx85, (91) knockout (k: 28), (92) rayfong, (93) Skwidd, Inc. (k: 12), who also notes: "Darling little fish! Likes being kept in a big group with a decent sized school of small tetras(neons, glowlights). End up all schooling together. They don't call 'em tetra cories for nothing!", (94) corybreed, (95) jp11biod, (96) dave.h, (97) aquaoahu, (98) Mowin (k: 10), (99) Jools (k: 4), (100) chad320 (k: 12), (101) Sam (k: 18), (102) SHEAG (k: 12), (103) mmccannon (p: 2, k: 6), (104) Korsaaven (k: 8), who also notes: "Have spawned only twice but they ate their own eggs.", (105) Mark Roesner, (106) arapaimag (k: 3), (107) tomr (k: 3), (108) Black_flys (k: 12), (109) JamesStuddart (p: 2, k: 13), (110) bartian (k: 15), (111) xavierD., (112) rmc, (113) ars (k: 50), who also notes: "Regular spawners", (114) AndiH, (115) donpetty (k: 5), who also notes: "Kept in a 55 gallon general community tank with other dwarf catfish and smaller tetras.", (116) Joren56 (k: 32), (117) Rita Aspevik (k: 13), (118) minkweir, (119) Donaldm (k: 10), who also notes: "Wild Caught", (120) Elwood (k: 10), (121) krb (k: 9), (122) Skägget (k: 11), who also notes: "Lovely creatures one of the few Corydoras I like", (123) jeff.l, (124) markmoten (k: 12), (125) mace, (126) Alisana, (127) Lars Jamne (k: 50), (128) buffalo775, (129) dkshadowwolf (p: 2).

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Breeding Reports

(1) ars (b: 45).

More Resources

- Shane's World Reproduction Breeding Corydoras pygmaeus
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Last Update

2007 Sep 06 11:59 (species record created: 2001 Apr 30 00:00)