NEWS112
14
During courtship theblackelementsof the color patternare intensified.
Female ”El Tigre”
Corydoras concolor
Gorgeousmailed catfishes of the species
Corydoras concolor
have recently been
imported fromColombia.Courtingmales
of the imported form develop beautiful,
muchelongated fins.
This raises the question of whether the
taxon
Corydoras concolor
may perhaps
represent several similar species.
There is in fact a synonym of
Corydoras
concolor
, namely
C. esperanzae
. The latter
specieswasdescribed from theRioMeta
in Colombia by Castro in 1987, and in all
probability that is precisely where the
recently importedmailed catfishes came
from. Isbrücker (2001) synonymized
C.
esperanzae
with
C. concolor,
which was
described in 1961 by Weitzman, from a
tributary of the Río Parguaza in
Venezuela.
Weitzman explicitly states in the original
description that
Corydoras concolor
possessesno strikingblackmarkings,and
this can also be clearly seen in the figure
accompanying the original description.
But the recently imported specimens of
Corydoras concolor
have a clearly visible
eyemask, which can also be seen in the
Male
Female
hundred years. From an aquarium-hobby
viewpoint, however, the question of the
validity of the taxon
Poeciliawingei
is of no
importance, as only pure-blooded Endler
Guppies
exhibit
the
attractive
characteristics infull.Hence it is importantto
keep them separate from other guppies
whenbreeding.
holotype of
C. esperanzae
; the specimen
canbe seenon the Internet at
ail.php?mode=full&target=134356)
So it cannotbecompletely ruledout that
Corydoras esperanzae
may after all be a
good species,but atpresent it is too soon
to jump to conclusions of that sort.
Leaving aside the question of their
identity, the recently imported
Corydoras
are
very
attractive
fishes. Their
maintenance is totally uncomplicated.
Like all round-snouts, these fishes should
be kept in a group on a soft sandy
substrate. Fishes from Colombia and
Venezuelaprefer ratherwarm conditions,
so the temperature shouldbe26-28 °C.
