What's your favourite Cory?

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

The "ungoing story" is about it still to be considered a C.aeneus by some. . I have kept them (sold as C.aeneus hahaha) and they defintely had a different shape and coloring.

To me it isn't a melenistic but a quite dark linebred fish. Often offspring (if parents aren't well selected) turns into dark brown fish.

I agree that those look totally different from a typical C. aeneus, like the bronzes I have! All I'm saying is that even someone who is interested, but is fairly new to this world, can get overwhelmed by the classifications and labellings!

I don't really see much difference between calling it a line-bred dark fish, and calling it a melanistic colour morph? It's a darker colour variety of the fish... isn't that the same thing as it being melanistic?

 

[DoubleDutch]

I agree that those look totally different from a typical C. aeneus, like the bronzes I have! All I'm saying is that even someone who is interested, but is fairly new to this world, can get overwhelmed by the classifications and labellings!

I don't really see much difference between calling it a line-bred dark fish, and calling it a melanistic colour morph? It's a darker colour variety of the fish... isn't that the same thing as it being melanistic?

It isn't the same. Melanism is a genetic thing like albinism which won't faint in offspring. Same thing as xanthism (see pic) = yellow with blue eyes.

 

[DoubleDutch]

Taxonomically, the "species" Corydoras macrosteus, C. microps, C. schultzi and C. venezuelanus are not distinct species but "varieties" (for lack of a better word) of C. aeneus. The four afore-mentioned species names are deemed synonyms of C. aeneus.

This has been accepted by every ichthyologist since it was stated by Nijssen & Isbrücker 1980. The paper is here:

https://repository.naturalis.nl/document/547986

The authors did not have phylogenetic data at that time, but dozens of subsequent phylogenetic analysis studies have supported their findings for the most past, and certainly with these four species. They are currently all accepted as C. aeneus, regardless of external differences.

A shame cause I don't like the crossbreds that aren't crossbreds hahaha

 

[Byron]

can you post a pic of a true Julii cory. Google brings up many false Juliis.

Here are photos of C. julii and C. trilineatus. You will note they are quite distinct (see below though).

C. julii is one of four very similarly-patterned corys that are frequently confused and will often be seen in stores under incorrect names. Corydoras julii, C. leopardus, C. punctatus and C. trilineatus all share a large black blotch in the dorsal fin, a barred caudal fin, and a horizontal stripe along the body at the juncture of the dorsal and ventral lateral plates; the body is spotted. However, all these species are highly variable in their pattern, and the horizontal stripe may be absent in C. julii.

The subject species is quite rare in the hobby, since it occurs in rivers and areas that are generally not heavily-fished commercially and is therefore seldom exported; the few times it does appear it has probably been collected in the Rio Para which is regularly fished. The true C. julii has a spotted pattern on the head and body, and the lateral stripe is either not present or extends only midway along the body. C. julii is also somewhat smaller and more compact-looking in size than C. trilineatus.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

It isn't the same. Melanism is a genetic thing like albinism which won't faint in offspring. Same thing as xanthism (see pic) = yellow with blue eyes.

Ah! Well thank you, I learned something today! So if I breed my three black cories, some of the offspring might be brown rather than the pretty deep black of the adults?
I wish I'd studied biology further, and learned more about scientific classification - and taken the opportunity I had to learn Latin in secondary school! I really regret not taking that extra class because I didn't think I'd ever need to know Latin. I was dumb, it's really useful!

 

[anewbie]

So this is my first hand experience with the cory I have kept:
panda - nothing special - why bother
sterbai - after years of owning them they are still skittish - i have a soft spot of them but they never seem to be accepting of the monster on the other side of the glass.
eques - almost as bad of my angels - frequently greeting me and even willing to swim to the top when i feed the fishes - haven't been skittish since day 1.
pygmy - not pretty but their behavior and adaptability around breeding fishes has been quite intereseting/educational. First on my list of cory.
false julli - why bother
orange laser - pretty but even worse than the sterbai. They are in a densely planted tank and while having more than 10 i'm lucky to see one a week. They might as well not be there. One group of orange laser i purchased (wild) were not skittish but after being with the skittish ones for a week they picked up the bad habbit. Pity.
albino - all species of fishes - avoid like the plague.

 

[DoubleDutch]

Ah! Well thank you, I learned something today! So if I breed my three black cories, some of the offspring might be brown rather than the pretty deep black of the adults?
I wish I'd studied biology further, and learned more about scientific classification - and taken the opportunity I had to learn Latin in secondary school! I really regret not taking that extra class because I didn't think I'd ever need to know Latin. I was dumb, it's really useful!

How fast depends on the ancestry. Offspring could be black but in the line they get more brownish.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

sterbai - after years of owning them they are still skittish - i have a soft spot of them but they never seem to be accepting of the monster on the other side of the glass.

Same. Love my sterbai, but they definitely hide a lot. I used to have six in a different tank but put them with my bronzes in the hope that they'd feel more confident in a larger group, and with the bronzes much more mellow behaviour, but the sterbai still hide much more than the bronze do.

pygmy - not pretty but their behavior and adaptability around breeding fishes has been quite intereseting/educational. First on my list of cory.

Aaww, they're pretty! Not as colourful or patterned as many other cories, true, but they have a prettiness of their own! Cute might be a better descriptor though. They have adorable little faces, and such appealing behaviours in large groups, which makes them great to watch.

albino - all species of fishes - avoid like the plague.

Is that a preference about the looks, or is there a downside to albinos I'm unaware of?

 

[Rocky998]

Same. Love my sterbai, but they definitely hide a lot. I used to have six in a different tank but put them with my bronzes in the hope that they'd feel more confident in a larger group, and with the bronzes much more mellow behaviour, but the sterbai still hide much more than the bronze do.


Aaww, they're pretty! Not as colourful or patterned as many other cories, true, but they have a prettiness of their own! Cute might be a better descriptor though. They have adorable little faces, and such appealing behaviours in large groups, which makes them great to watch.

Is that a preference about the looks, or is there a downside to albinos I'm unaware of?

So sterbai aren't that playful and hide? Aw man...
I wanted to do a group of 9 in the 40g

 

[anewbie]

Same. Love my sterbai, but they definitely hide a lot. I used to have six in a different tank but put them with my bronzes in the hope that they'd feel more confident in a larger group, and with the bronzes much more mellow behaviour, but the sterbai still hide much more than the bronze do.


Aaww, they're pretty! Not as colourful or patterned as many other cories, true, but they have a prettiness of their own! Cute might be a better descriptor though. They have adorable little faces, and such appealing behaviours in large groups, which makes them great to watch.

Is that a preference about the looks, or is there a downside to albinos I'm unaware of?

I consider albino genetically defective that are at a disadvantage in the wild; we seem to encourage them in captivity which seems at conflict. Also i don't particularly find them attractive or appealing visually so there is that aspect. If one of my frys turned out to be an alibino i would keep as I would any defective fish i didn't feel comfortable giving away but i would not encourage more. Other defective fishes include runts and less serious deformities; otherwise over time i give most of my frys away if not to individuals then petstore; though thankfully my nannacara has been very good at catching young pleco.

 

[Coryking]

albino - all species of fishes - avoid like the plague.

What's wrong with albinos there the best type of fish. You avoid Chinese alage eater like the plague not albinos especially not albino Cory and Cherry barbs!
They are not defects there is nothing wrong with there health therefore they are not defects. They are a different colour not a defect

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

What's wrong with albinos there the best type of fish. You avoid Chinese alage eater like the plague not albinos especially not albino Cory and Cherry barbs!

He has a point that albinos, of any wild animal, tend not to survive in the wild. But within the hobby I don't see a problem with them personally - aquarium fish should never be released into the wild.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

So sterbai aren't that playful and hide? Aw man...
I wanted to do a group of 9 in the 40g

If you like them, then go for it. Try to get your hands on captive bred ones, which shouldn't be too difficult since they're not hard to breed. Just be prepared that they're more shy and skittish than something like the bronze or peppered cories.

 

[Rocky998]

If you like them, then go for it. Try to get your hands on captive bred ones, which shouldn't be too difficult since they're not hard to breed. Just be prepared that they're more shy and skittish than something like the bronze or peppered cories.

Awesome! So I just need to be a bit more gentle with my approach to the tank.
But I do wish the sterbai corydora had a more out going personality... I want to have active and playful corydoras.

 

[Byron]

So sterbai aren't that playful and hide? Aw man...
I wanted to do a group of 9 in the 40g

Numbers have a big impact on fish behaviour when it comes to shoaling species. I never found my C. sterbai "shy," but they did prefer each other's company more noticeably than some other species. I had a group of four initially, one of these died for some reason, but along the way a fry appeared, so in the end I still had four, and they did spend a lot of surfing time in pairs and trios. They were in with some 30 other cories of several species so that probably helped. Safety in numbers, and 10 or more is the "cut-off."