Another “what we got here” thread

[bsmith]

One of my favorite local stores had a small heard of these guys labeled as Melanistius but not spotted even and one of the employees was saying he believed they were CW045’s.

When I was observing them in the store tank with normal gravel and no other objects they stayed in a tight group and were all over the tank. Now in my tank they seem to be quite the skittish group only coking out when I feed (as seen in the video) and it seems like at dusk in the tank.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

[Jools]

There are four species of cory here.

Corydoras panda

,

Corydoras melanistius

,

Corydoras sterbai

. Pretty sure of those. The fourth one might be

Corydoras virginiae

. Would need clearer pics.

I can't see

CW045

here - not high backed enough.

Jools

[bsmith]

I’m sorry….I totally should have said I was t talking about the pandas or sterbai.

None of the species you listed are spotted at all like my new guys.

[Jools]

I'm not sure I understand the question, but, in any case we need sharper pics would help. Bear in mind your dark substrate will alter the appearance of the fish. Typical "culprits" in this kind of thread are

Corydoras delphax

and

Corydoras ambiacus

but just on your pics, the fishes looked more round nosed.

Jools

[bekateen]

The fish appears to have body spots and a spotted tail.

CW045

has unspotted flanks, but I see lots of spots on the sides of your fish in these photos. If your fish are a short snout species, I'd go with

Corydoras(ln9) brevirostris

before

Corydoras(ln9) melanistius

, which has almost a hyaline tail or very faint spotting on the tail. If the snout is straight, then

Corydoras(ln8sc4) delphax

.

Cheers,
Eric

[bsmith]

The fish appears to have body spots and a spotted tail.

CW045

has unspotted flanks, but I see lots of spots on the sides of your fish in these photos. If your fish are a short snout species, I'd go with

Corydoras(ln9) brevirostris

before

Corydoras(ln9) melanistius

, which has almost a hyaline tail or very faint spotting on the tail. If the snout is straight, then

Corydoras(ln8sc4) delphax

.

Cheers,
Eric

I believe you’ve cracked the case. They have a straight/more elongated snout so it is my belief that they are C.Delphax.

[bsmith]

Here’s something else for you to chew on if you like. A week or so ago I purchased a lone juvenile from the same that also came from the same source as mine (I think the breeder is selling them under the Cw045 identity to the store.) The pics in the catElog resemble this juvenile quite heavily but the group of 8 I originally started this thread about are quite a bit darker and larger of course. I don’t know if maybe in the wild they have a lighter sand type substrate that makes them display a lighter appearance or perhaps my Fluval Stratum is making mine that much darker.

The Juvie.

[bsmith]

This video really demonstrates how the behavior of this fish differs from most others. They forage with purpose almost and are very high strung as even the most inconsequential action will send the whole shoal darting for cover.