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CassCats

CassCats

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like, really, really looked at corydoras spines.
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20200824_2253bahf07.jpg


I don't think I'd want to be spiked by one of these.
 
Hey, it isn't just the amazon. Have you ever been spiked by a bluegill or green sunfish? Channel catfish can nail you pretty good, too.

Seriously, though, thanks for calling this to our attention. I love seeing and thinking about these adaptations. Did you know kuhli loaches have a retractable spike under each eye that they can extent when they're attacked? Most fish predators prefer to swallow their prey head-first, and it's almost impossible for them to gag down a kuhli. I love knowing stuff like that. I never realized that the lowly cory-cats were so formidable! It makes keeping them that much cooler.
 
WhistlingBadger said:
Hey, it isn't just the amazon. Have you ever been spiked by a bluegill or green sunfish? Channel catfish can nail you pretty good, too.

Seriously, though, thanks for calling this to our attention. I love seeing and thinking about these adaptations. Did you know kuhli loaches have a retractable spike under each eye that they can extent when they're attacked? Most fish predators prefer to swallow their prey head-first, and it's almost impossible for them to gag down a kuhli. I love knowing stuff like that. I never realized that the lowly cory-cats were so formidable! It makes keeping them that much cooler.
Click to expand...
Yes i knew that about the spines under the eye on kuhlis!

Apparently some believe cories have some venom to their spines too. Honestly I don't know, i just know that if ever spiked by them, infection nearly always happens because 1)its a puncture and 2)its a puncture with trapped bacteria. Even a tiny poke from the spine on the dorsal AND pectoral fins can get you a painful little infection. Like the loaches, its an anti predator response. Ever see a cory flare out all its fins if you net one out of water? Its their defensive pose.

Somewhere on here someone shared a link where some dingus decided to swallow a corydoras and the spines lodged in his throat.
 
NCaquatics said:
Yes i knew that about the spines under the eye on kuhlis!

Apparently some believe cories have some venom to their spines too. Honestly I don't know, i just know that if ever spiked by them, infection nearly always happens because 1)its a puncture and 2)its a puncture with trapped bacteria. Even a tiny poke from the spine on the dorsal AND pectoral fins can get you a painful little infection. Like the loaches, its an anti predator response. Ever see a cory flare out all its fins if you net one out of water? Its their defensive pose.

Somewhere on here someone shared a link where some dingus decided to swallow a corydoras and the spines lodged in his throat.
Click to expand...
@mbsqw1d had the link to that story :)
When I get my new bronze cories (possibly early next week, delayed because I was hit with a horrible virus) should I ask the store to double bag them because of the spines? They'll be in the bag for about 30-40 minutes not counting acclimating. Or maybe I should bring like a tupperware to put the bag in, just in case?
 
You should be okay. I havent had leakers with them nor have I been spiked through the bag.
 
WhistlingBadger said:
Hey, it isn't just the amazon. Have you ever been spiked by a bluegill or green sunfish? Channel catfish can nail you pretty good, too.

Seriously, though, thanks for calling this to our attention. I love seeing and thinking about these adaptations. Did you know kuhli loaches have a retractable spike under each eye that they can extent when they're attacked? Most fish predators prefer to swallow their prey head-first, and it's almost impossible for them to gag down a kuhli. I love knowing stuff like that. I never realized that the lowly cory-cats were so formidable! It makes keeping them that much cooler.
Click to expand...
YES! Of my word, when I caught the biggest largemouth bass I have ever caught (it had to have been over 9 pounds, close to a Lunker), it stabbed me with one of its spines, and it went down to the bone, I could literally feel it.

Hey, I guess I deserved it for catching him? :lol:

Sunfish are almost worse, because they tend to flop/flap more once out of water.

@NCaquatics - cool photo! I never knew they were spiny. I also heard their barbels hurt? They look soft... :dunno:
 
AdoraBelle Dearheart said:
@mbsqw1d had the link to that story :)
When I get my new bronze cories (possibly early next week, delayed because I was hit with a horrible virus) should I ask the store to double bag them because of the spines? They'll be in the bag for about 30-40 minutes not counting acclimating. Or maybe I should bring like a tupperware to put the bag in, just in case?
Click to expand...
You could just as a precaution. I always keep the fish I buy in a cooler on the way home, 1( Because it helps them manage their temperature better, and 2( just in case the bag breaks open, at least they all aren’t on the floor of my van.
 
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