Article © Julian Dignall, uploaded May 27, 2013.

All corys are facultative air breathers, meaning that, depending on conditions, they have the ability to breathe atmospheric air, to a certain extent and if necessary. They do this by utilising a modified intestine, which has many more blood-carrying vessels than other fish, that assist in the uptake of atmospheric oxygen. This adaptation allows them to survive if their habitat becomes oxygen-deprived for any reason. In the wild, one can sit next to a still pool of water containing these fishes and watch it bubble here and there as they come up for air. In many cases Corys live in what we would call muddy water and can't be readily seen from solid ground. So, when attempting to collect them in the wild (at least if you're on your own with a decent-sized dip net) one can take a blind swipe at the water below such a bubble and this will yield a Cory from time to time.

In the aquarium they continue to do this. You'll see them darting to the surface to take in gulps of air on occasion. This is perfectly natural and no cause for concern unless the amount of dissolved oxygen present is lower than it should be, in which case the frequency of visits to the surface will usually rise correspondingly. Corys will often do this in quick succession, and a group of half a dozen or more Corys doing this is fun to watch.

Corydoras melini is a commonly imported species and can be confused with other wild imports such as C. davidsandsi andC. metae. All of these have both a vertical black stripe through the eye (hence the bandit mask common name) and a black stripe diagonally down the back. Generally, C. melini has a 'dirty' look to its flanks with haphazard touches of black colouration on the twin row of armour plates all Corys have. The reliable identification characteristic is the precise shape of the black stripe running from the lower dorsal fin area to the upper caudal fin. In C. metae this terminates at the caudal peduncle, leaving the tail fin clear and showing a short bar, vertically, on the caudal peduncle. In the other two species the stripe splits into two above the caudal peduncle, a feature most readily viewed from above. C. davidsandsi is also marginally more elongate (or lower in the body) and differs slightly in body colouration — it is paler and without even a hint of pigmentation on the flanks. C. melini is the overall sandy brown fish with those “dirty” marks and with a much higher body shape, akin to C. metae, hence the common name False Bandit Cory.

Acquiring a group of these attractive Corys will not, however, involve daylight robbery. Wild imports are inexpensive as Corys go and it's a species that is sometimes bred in captivity. Therefore it sometimes appears at breeder-friendly LFS and club / society auctions. Irrespective of the route this species is offered to you, it's a nice one to consider for a modest aquarium.

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 melini  Lönnberg & Rendahl, 1930
Common Names	False Bandit Cory Panzerwels/Corydoras - Catfish (Germany), Retstribet Pansermalle (Denmark)
Type Locality	Luaretê (0°35'N, 69°13'W) at confluence of Rio Papurí and Rio Uaupés, Rio Negro system, Amazonas, Brazil.
Pronunciation	hop lee so mah - mell INN eye
Etymology	Named to honour Dr. Doug Melin.
Articles
Species Information
Size	50mm or 2" SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Habitat Information
Distribution	South America: Upper Negro and Meta River basins. Orinoco, Middle Orinoco, Meta (click on these areas to find other species found there) Amazon, Middle Amazon (Solimoes), Negro, Upper Negro (click on these areas to find other species found there) Login to view the map.
IUCN Red List Category	Not Evaluated
Temperature	22.0-26.0°C or 71.6-78.8°F (Show species within this range)
Husbandry Information
Breeding	Has been bred in the aquarium.
Breeding Reports	There are 5 breeding reports, read them all here.
Further Information
Reference	Arkiv för Zoologi v. 22 A (no. 5), pp 1, Fig. 1.
Registered Keepers	There are 105 registered keepers, view all "my cats" data.
Wishlists	Love this species? Click the heart to add it to your wish list. There are 7 wishes to keep this species, see who wants what.
Spotters	Spotted this species somewhere? Click the binoculars! There are 29 records of this fish being seen, view them all.
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	Search for H. melini
	Look up H. melini on AquaticRepublic.com
	Look up H. melini on Fishbase
	Look up H. melini on Encyclopedia of Life
	Look up H. melini on Global Biodiversity Information Facility
	LFS label creator ARN ref:1.1.1580.118
Last Update	2024 Jun 14 11:18 (species record created: 2013 May 27 19:43)

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