Mistaken Identity - Corydoras

[Jitticus]

This is what you get when a non-fishkeeper friend helps you to bring back corydoras weitzmani.

As far as I can tell, these should be barbatus or CW113






Oh well, at least are pretty.

[marle]

nice fellas

[stormhawk]

I think they're probably Scleromystax salmacis Britto & Reis, 2005:

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog...pecies_id=2196

Nice ones by the way. What are those white things on the tank walls Jitticus?

[Jitticus]

Hmm, but there are golden metallic streaks on this one. Well, anyways, those streaks are lizard poop.

[stormhawk]

Scleromystax barbatus don't look like this. They have blackish heads with some markings when they are adults. The males have a white? line running from the snout along the forehead till the base of the first dorsal ray. They have longer pectoral and dorsal fins as well. If the ones in the picture are still juveniles, you'll have to wait a little longer. If you need a better opinion, you can probably ask Ian Fuller.

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog...?species_id=26

I based the initial ID on the markings seen in the fish in the first picture. If they are salmacis, you got some rare fish.

Lizard poop? I usually kill the lizards. They like to fish for your aquarium fishes... saw one in action at a friend's place some time ago. Even found one lurking behind my main tank one night. Needless to say, it was.. exterminated.

[johannes]

got a lead from a Cory expert, saying that it could be Scleromystax kronei..

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog...species_id=484

[Jitticus]

Ok then. Either ways, its a good thing, right?

[genes]

I've heard Scleromystax are cold water species. A cory fanatic told me Scleromystax barbatus used to be available in Singapore many years ago but because of our temperature. They all failed to survive long in a non chiller tank. I've seen the large adult males for sale in Tokyo, they've got to be the most beautiful and amazing looking cats compared to the other corydoras/scleromystax! Price is also amazing .

[Jitticus]

Thanks for the comments, jo, hawk and gene,

A friend of mine here in KL. had 5 wild caught pieces for a while. They died slowly over a few weeks.
I was told that bred ones are more heat tolerant.
It's been 2 weeks now and there's a hot spell in KL, so far, thankfully, there are zero casualties. Hopefully it remains that way.

Here are more pictures of the juveniles beauties (barbatus/kronei/sally)

[jtan0916]

Nice. Sad that not much cory sighted in Singapore lately

[stormhawk]

Indeed, these Scleromystax are cool-water species. The heat may play a factor in causing them to die off in our climate, but perhaps it is also due to their dietary requirements. Some species just don't thrive in captivity for all sorts of reasons, and maybe they require something, that we cannot replicate in captivity.

I had some large Corydoras fowleri for awhile, and those guys are huge. They would not adapt to dried foods, and would only take frozen bloodworms and anything live. Even then they eventually died on me. They too require cool temperatures, but diet is probably just as important.

Some are just too stressed from the rigours of importation, and die eventually in our tanks. Just imagine, being in a bag of water sloshing about in a styrofoam box, crossing the Pacific from Peru or some other shipment point in South America, to Singapore. Then eventually in the fish farms for quarantine etc. Some just don't make it during the QT stage. I still remember when I first had Corydoras loretoensis. They were so beautiful I had to take some home. But after 2 weeks all were dead.

As genes mentioned, barbatus males are beautiful, but the price is just as beautiful. Since they require a chilled tank to thrive, that adds to their overall cost for a hobbyist in Singapore or Malaysia, so why not just keep the species more adapted for our climate. Less need for a chiller, and there's so many Corydoras to choose from.