PlanetCatfish.com

I have been searching for Corydoras cochui for months to no avail. Come to find out that Corydoras cochui was reclassified as an aspidoras, specifically Aspidoras pauciradiatus.

Can this be updated on the Cat-eLog, please? Thanks!

Where is this information coming from?

As far as I can see in my usual resources for "what is the valid name of <species>?" - Catalog of Fishes and Fishbase - Corydoras cochui is a valid name, and not a synonym for any Aspidoras.

I'm by no means saying you are wrong, I'm just wondering where you found the information - and I do appreciate that it sometimes it takes a while for these things to trickle through.

Edit: By the way, since Aspidoras pauciradiatus is described later (1970) than Corydoras cochui (1954), surely the synonym would be that Aspidroas pauciradiatus becomes Aspidoras cochui?

And looking at C. cochui as of the pictures we have, it is missing the black marking on the dorsal fin.

Despite my edits, I'm not trying to say you are wrong, just that I find it a little more curious, and I would like to understand where this is coming from, and how come an older species is being synonymized as a newer one, contrary to the traditional method of using "the oldest available name is used".

--
Mats

MatsP wrote:Where is this information coming from?

Hey Mats,

Wow - what a fast response - thank you! well, I was first given that information by Rachel O'Leary aka MsJinkzd who imports these at times.

Scotcat.com says "In earlier aquatic literature this species was erroneously captioned as Corydoras cochui a small species very similar to Corydoras habrosus from Brazil." You can read more here.

Edit: I believe I read this same information on seriouslyfish.com but I can't get their site to load at the moment - I think it has been down for a couple of days.

Hi,

I'm very sure that this information is wrong.

Corydoras cochui and "Aspidoras" pauciradiatus are clearly different species.
They don't even belong to the same lineage. In the genetical analysis of Alexandrou et al. they put Corydoras sp. "A. pauciradiatus" into the elegans group where C. cochui certainly does not belong to.

However, it is rather doubtful if "Aspidoras" pauciradiatus is really an Aspidoras, the genetical analysis corobates this doubt.
But to my knowledge they have not yet been reclassified as Corydoras, so they officially still are Aspidoras.

Cheers,

Afaics you've read it the wrong way round and/or ignored (in the good sense; no offence meant) the word "erroneously".

"Scotcat.com says "In earlier aquatic literature this species (= Aspidoras pauciradiatus) was erroneously captioned as Corydoras cochui".

Two different species, without any doubt.

kamas88 wrote:it is rather doubtful if "Aspidoras" pauciradiatus is really an Aspidoras, the genetical analysis corobates this doubt.
But to my knowledge they have not yet been reclassified as Corydoras, so they officially still are Aspidoras.

Very interesting - I love learning new information each day!

Marc van Arc wrote:Afaics you've read it the wrong way round and/or ignored (in the good sense; no offence meant) the word "erroneously".

Now that I read it again, you are right - I think I took it differently to how they meant it. Also, I clarified with Rachel O'Leary today and said she that when she ordered Corydoras cochui the importers sent her Aspidoras pauciradiatus, so the importers got them mixed up (nothing new!).

So if there really IS a Corydoras cochui, where does a person find them?

I don't think there is any magical way to find unusual fish - you just have to keep your eyes and ears open to what comes in from different places, tell people in shops that you frequent that you are after these fish, etc, etc. Rachel usually gets some unusual fish, so that's a good starting point.

It is both frustrating and annoying when exporters send the wrong fish. In this case, I think it goes back to an old error of "they've been called the wrong thing for a long time" story, so the fishermen in Brazil actually call them "C. cochui", and that's what the exporter puts on their list.

--
Mats

Ironically, I imported them as C. cochui because I was HOPING for the wrong fish, LOL. Wish they would send me the wrong ones again, in this particular case. They were on the list for only one week, then gone for the past year