Article © Ian Fuller, uploaded May 01, 2005.

Taking time out from from an exciting new book project, the Catfish Study Group (UK)'s chairman and self confessed Corydoras nut, Ian Fuller introduces this month's chosen species.

From the time of its first description in 1971, this species was destined to become a favourite amongst aquarists. There were reports of it being bred in Germany in the late 1970's. However it took a few more years before it made its way into the hobby in any appreciable numbers. The first importation unto the UK came in 1983 with the price of individual fish being very high and beyond the reach of many. However it was not very long before they were commonplace in most fish shops and even after more than twenty years in the hobby they are still as popular as ever.

With their distinctive colours of a light golden tan body with large black spot at the caudal peduncle, black mask across the eye and the large blotch in the dorsal fin, they were aptly named after the Giant Panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca.

This is a species that has everything going for it. Good looks; size, growing no larger than 50mm SL, for females and 45mm SL for males; ease of breed-ability. All in all a fish suitable for virtually any size of aquarium and hardy enough for even the least experienced novice.

Their basic requirements would be an aquarium with a substrate of a shallow layer of smooth grained sand with groups of largish pebbles, some floating plants to emulate the overhanging vegetation on the banks of their natural habitat in the Rio Aquas and Rio Amarillas, which are tributaries of the Rio Pachitea, Rio Ucayali system. The dietary requirements for this species is easy to provide, they are not fussy and most of the proprietary foods are readily accepted, but the addition of live foods, such as Daphnia, bloodworm or Tubifex will bring them into breeding condition very quickly.

A word of warning with this species is needed however; if they are kept in communal groups with some of the other similarly coloured Corydoradinae species there is a danger of hybridising taking place.

Copyright information for the images used in this article can be found on the species' full Cat-eLog page.

Cat-eLog Data Sheet
Scientific Name	Hoplisoma panda  Nijssen & Isbrücker, 1971
Common Names	Panda Cory Panda Corydoras, Panda-pansermalle (Denmark), Panzerwels (Germany)
Type Locality	Aquas Amarillas, tributary of Río Pachitea, Río Ucayali system, Huanuco State, Peru.
Pronunciation	hop lee so mah - PANN dah
Etymology	Panda in allusion to the Chinese mammal - see ID notes.
Articles
Species Information
Size	38mm or 1.5" SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification	Corydoras panda has a light colored body with black blob covering their eyes (like the panda), a black spot the dorsal fin, and a spot on or near the base of the caudal fin.
Sexing	Females are more rubust. The male has more of a streamlined body while the female is more rounded when viewed fromt he side. Easiest to view from the top. While breeding the female will be carrying the eggs with her ventral fins.
General Remarks	First collected for aquarium hobbyists in 1969 by Foersch and Hanrieder. They were first collected in a mountain brook at the side of the Rio Lullapichis (Ucayali/Peru).
Habitat Information
Distribution	South America: Upper Amazon River basin. Amazon, Upper Amazon, Marañón, Ucayali (click on these areas to find other species found there) Login to view the map.
IUCN Red List Category	Not Evaluated
pH	6.0 - 7.4
Temperature	22.0-25.0°C or 71.6-77°F (Show species within this range)
Other Parameters	Soft to moderate hardness - dGH 2-12.
Husbandry Information
Feeding	Suggested foods are high quality flake foods, sinking wafers, frozen blood worms, grindal worms, tubificid worms. User data.
Furniture	Sandy bottom with an open swimming space lined with bogwood and plants to retreat into.
Compatibility	Peaceful community fish.
Suggested Tankmates	Small peaceful characins or other non aggressive community fish. Keep in shoals.
Breeding	Not too difficult, will breed as per any Corydoras species giving a good diet and water conditions, and water changes of a lower temperature to induce spawning. Two males to one female or one pair. Setup could be a 18''x12''x12'' tank with sand or bare bottom with Java moss, Java fern and a sponge filter, adding if you like a power filter for extra aeration and circulation of the water all leading to a hopefully successful spawning.
Breeding Reports	There are 33 breeding reports, read them all here.
Further Information
Reference	Beaufortia v. 18 (no. 239), pp 186, Fig. 2.
Registered Keepers	There are 555 registered keepers, view all "my cats" data.
Wishlists	Love this species? Click the heart to add it to your wish list. There are 11 wishes to keep this species, see who wants what.
Spotters	Spotted this species somewhere? Click the binoculars! There are 140 records of this fish being seen, view them all.
Forum BBCode
	Search for H. panda
	Look up H. panda on AquaticRepublic.com
	Look up H. panda on Fishbase
	Look up H. panda on Encyclopedia of Life
	Look up H. panda on Global Biodiversity Information Facility
	LFS label creator ARN ref:1.1.1580.267
Last Update	2024 Jun 14 11:19 (species record created: 2005 May 01 11:22)

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