Cory ID

Hi everyone!

A couple weeks ago I bought 4 peppered corydores (C. paleatus) because I wanted to have another species (until then I only had C. aeneus). Recently I bought 2 more to complete my school of 6 and see if I could make them breed in the future.

The problem is that these 2 that were sold to me as peppered corydoras, I'm starting to believe that they are not peppered corydoras...
After some research I discovered the C. longipinnis, which look a lot like the peppered corydoras when were talking about the colors.

So I just want to know if these are indeed C. longipinnis instead of C. paleatus and if they can cross breed. It was never my intention to cross breed different species, so I'm kind of worried that it may happen and that it might be not so healthy for the fry.

I'm going to attach a picture of these two.

Thank you in advance to anyone who can help!

NOTE: the C. aeneus and C. paleatus are in different tanks.

I would think they are C. Paleatus, Crazy people have bred longfin versions, and I think that's what you have got.

itiwhetu said:

I would think they are C. Paleatus, Crazy people have bred longfin versions, and I think that's what you have got.

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Oh nice, good to know. I didn't know that these longfin paleatus were a thing. Thank you for your answer!

Think have to agree on the point of being long finned version of c paleatus as both are almost identical barring slightly different sizes and fins.

There are quite a few cories and plecos species that have short and long finned species out there to be fair.

Ch4rlie said:

Think have to agree on the point of being long finned version of c paleatus as both are almost identical barring slightly different sizes and fins.

There are quite a few cories and plecos species that have short and long finned species out there to be fair.

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I'm glad to read that, thank you!. I was doubting because these 2 in the pictures are the last 2 I bought and their fins are much bigger than the ones I already had. At first I tought that maybe they were already adult males, which apparentely have bigger fins than the adult females, and the other 4 were still juveniles. But then after founding out about the longipinnis I started doubting.

Long-finned are usually more expensive than the usual short-finned too, so if you got them for the same price, nice deal!

Ooohh, would be fun to get your cory gang breeding. See how many babies turn out to be long finned ones!

I have a suspicion the pictured fish may be a distinct species other than C. paleatus. There are more than 400 species in the Corydoradinae family now, most are in the polymorphic genus Corydoras, and a few hundred awaiting description (the C or CW numbers). I believe I have seen photos of a fish similar to the one here and it was identified as another species than C. paleatus. I can't be certain, as I certainly have no thorough familiarity with all the new species these days. So I will ask the question on CorydorasWorld and Ian or someone will likely know. I'll report back (I hope).

Ian Fuller has responded, and as I suspected, the pictured fish involves another species, Corydoras longipinnis Knaack 2007. Here are Ian's comments, and a follow-up question from another member.

Byron said:

Ian Fuller has responded, and as I suspected, the pictured fish involves another species, Corydoras longipinnis Knaack 2007. Here are Ian's comments, and a follow-up question from another member.

C. longipinnis, they are almost identical on colour pattern, but C. paleatus does not naturally have the extended dorsal fin rays.​

Before C. longipinnis was described both species were mixed in breeding stocks in fish farms and subsequently produced what are actually hybrids. This is why there are short and long finned specimens appearing in commercially bred stock.​

Do not make the mistake and think that this is the same as the man made mutant long straggly finned fish being mass produced. All the fins of these fish are long and straggly.​

​

Ian, how does one differentiate between longipinnis and paleatus hybrids?​

​

You don't. The only way is to get wild stock of each.​

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That’s great information and coming from both Bryon and Ian Fuller no less, I apologise for my earlier mistake in saying I thought the two pictures were c. paleatus, it’s undoubtedly hard to tell exactly from two photographs alone but I could have sworn the two were identical apart from the longer fins hence why I thought this was a long finned version of the specie. Interesting.

You certainly learn things on this forum

AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

Long-finned are usually more expensive than the usual short-finned too, so if you got them for the same price, nice deal!

Ooohh, would be fun to get your cory gang breeding. See how many babies turn out to be long finned ones!

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Yes they were the same price, indeed!
Yes, it would be pretty exciting! If they do breed, I'll give you an update about that

Purely on the extension of the Caudal Fin and the distinct coloration of C. Paleatus. I very much doubt that you have C. Longipinnis.

Just to make sure it is clear, Ian was noting that this could be a hybrid between C. paleatus and C. longipinnis and a subequent member asked this very question to which Ian remarked "It is possible. DNA would be able to sort it. I am sure both species have been sequenced."

If these are in fact hybrids, you should not breed them, or more exactly (as they will spawn of their own accord) you should ensure the fry never enter the hobby.

Byron said:

Ian Fuller has responded, and as I suspected, the pictured fish involves another species, Corydoras longipinnis Knaack 2007. Here are Ian's comments, and a follow-up question from another member.

C. longipinnis, they are almost identical on colour pattern, but C. paleatus does not naturally have the extended dorsal fin rays.​

Before C. longipinnis was described both species were mixed in breeding stocks in fish farms and subsequently produced what are actually hybrids. This is why there are short and long finned specimens appearing in commercially bred stock.​

Do not make the mistake and think that this is the same as the man made mutant long straggly finned fish being mass produced. All the fins of these fish are long and straggly.​

​

Ian, how does one differentiate between longipinnis and paleatus hybrids?​

​

You don't. The only way is to get wild stock of each.​

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Oh damn... It's sad that they are different species...
By reading what Ian said, they can crossbreed with paleatus. Do you know if that is a bad/unhealthy thing to let happen? Cause if it is, I have to get another tank to put the C. longipinnis

Byron said:

Just to make sure it is clear, Ian was noting that this could be a hybrid between C. paleatus and C. longipinnis and a subequent member asked this very question to which Ian remarked "It is possible. DNA would be able to sort it. I am sure both species have been sequenced."

If these are in fact hybrids, you should not breed them, or more exactly (as they will spawn of their own accord) you should ensure the fry never enter the hobby.

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Okay, I guess this answers my previous question. I don't intend to sell or give away the fish that I breed, so it's not likely that the hybrids enter the hobby.
But in that case, I'll use this as an excuse to set up another tank

Thank you so much for your help! You've given me (and anyone who read this thread) a lot of good information! There's always space to learn new things! Thank you

gabrielgalhano said:

Oh damn... It's sad that they are different species...
By reading what Ian said, they can crossbreed with paleatus. Do you know if that is a bad/unhealthy thing to let happen? Cause if it is, I have to get another tank to put the C. longipinnis

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Species within a genus should be descended from the same ancestor, in which case the genus is termed monophyletic. The genus Corydoras is polyphyletic, which means the 160-odd species (not including the C and CW numbers) now classified in this genus are not all descended from the same ancestor according to phylogenetic analysis. There are nine lineages in the genus as it now exists, and one of these has four clades. The issue here is that C. paleatus and C. longipinnis are in lineage 6. Species within the same genus (or lineage here) can easily hybridize. Generally they will not do this in nature because they either are not living in the same geographical habitat, or if they were, they tend not to hybridize (there are examples proving this among other fishes, like the two lineages of Carnegiella strigata (Marble Hatchetfish) that do occur together in only one area but have never cross-bred). Stuffed into an aquarium, things can be different. If you have males and females of both species (of Corydoras) they will not cross-breed, but if there is/are only one gender of one of the species and the other species has the alternate gender, hybridization is much more likely to occur. I have had this a couple of times. I will just make sure the fry never get into the hobby outside my tanks.

Ian Fuller's reasoning why this hybridization is not a good thing...



Another aspect of this is that with the increasing destruction of fish habitats, the day may well come when the species in aquarists' tanks are all we have left of that species. It would indeed be sad if we had not only destroyed their habitat but then polluted the species through our own ignorance or greed. Just look at "balloon" fish, or "glo" fish to see the extent of this greed.

I just came across my notes with more from Ian on these two species, so I will add this paragraph.