Corydoras surinamensis?

[benny]

Hi guys,

Need to tap on your expertise again.

I have 4 of these and are not quite sure what they are.



Suspected to be c. surinamensis, but the shape of the head is not quite as sharp. C. melanistius has similar markings, but the tail is clear and the shape of the head is also slightly different. The black marking on the dorsal fin extends much further down than that of C. leucomelas.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!!

Cheers,

[Coryman]

It is very dificult to give a positive identification, especially with species with these type of markings without knowing where they were collected from.

I personaly would put this fish nearer to C. brevirostris than anything else.

What size (Body length) are your fish.

Ian

[benny]

Hi Ian,

Thanks for such a quick reply.

These fellas are about 3 to 3.5 cm in total length. So they are probably still juvenile. I've tried to get an idea of where they were collected from but to no avail. "South America" was the most intelligent answer I got.

I was looking at various C. brevirostris and C. melanistius pictures to try to get a positive ID. However, all four of my cories have the black marking on the dosal fin extending quite far down the side of the body, in fact almost reaching the belly. As they are probably juvenile, I not sure if the markings will change later. Would it be right to say that the length of these markings is probably not indicative that it's not brevirostris?

Cheers,

[Coryman]

You are right in that thay are probably juveniles and that the markings will certainly alter before they are fully mature. That's what makes what I call the melenistius so difficult to ID.

Ian