OK, so what makes a Cory a Cory?

[Jools]

I sort of know the answer to this, but am pushed a bit for time to actually write it out concisely. So, I wondered here if anyone wanted to take a crack at it. On the catelog, the genus

Corydoras

is defined as...

<em>Corydoras</em> are identified by their twin rows of armour plates along the flanks and by having fewer than 10 dorsal fin rays. They are most commonly confused with the other genera in the sub-family, namely <em>Brochis</em>, <em>Scleromystax</em> and <em>Aspidoras</em>.

Now, that's all good except it doesn't go into what the differences are from the other genera. If someone wants to write that down here, I will edit into the page and also change it around so it goes into the generic descriptions of <em>Brochis</em>, <em>Scleromystax</em> and <em>Aspidoras</em> too.

That means a decent percentage of the catelog pages have basic generic level info. with just a bit of effort!

Jools

[bronzefry]

Are you looking for the etymology or just the description?

Corydoras are small catfishes from South America that are calm and gregarious by nature, which makes them ideal community specimens. Rather than scales, Corydoras species have two rows of bony plates called scutes along their sides. Many Corydoras species have marking which act as camouflage(spelling) in the wild. These markings can often be quite beautiful. Corydoras species also like to shoal, so it is wise to keep them in groups of at least 6, if not more.

Like that?(I'm in a hurry, too!)
Amanda

[Jools]

I'm looking just for the description.

The one you supplied fits Corydoras well, but it equally fits Brochis, Aspidoras and Scleromystax. So, the thing I'm looking at is a plain English description of how to tell them apart generically.

Julian

[MatsP]

This is for the entry "Identification (Genus)" which is part of the species description. Have a look at Ancistrus, Pterygoplichthys to mention some Cat-eLog entries that have this field filled in.

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Mats

[Durlänger]

Anyone likes to translat this, about Aspidoras, as I have no idear what some of english words for the german`s are:
http://www.corydorasforum.de/thread.php?threadid=126

[rahendricks]

These are excerpts from The Aquarium Encyclopedia, edited by Gunther Sterba. My copy is dated 1978 so the information may be dated as well. This edition doesn't include Aspidoras or Scleromystax.

"All species are compact, fairly high-backed and laterally compressed. The line of the back is always more arched than that of the stomach. Characteristic of them is the lack of the bony plates on the swell of the back between D1 and D2 which is particular to the Callichthys species. The missing bony shield on the snout and the short D divide them clearly from members of the G Brochis."

"Two pairs of barbels of equal length are found on the lower and upper jaw."

The description for Brochis talks about the bony plates around the mouth, and the picture clearly shows three pairs of barbels but there is no mention of it.

Don't know if you can use, it is copyrighted, but there it is.

[Coryman]

The difference between the genera, Aspidoras, Brochis, Corydoras and Scleromystax from the visual hobby angle may differ from the written scientific descriptions, but I feel would be more appropriate here.

Aspidoras;
Body, slim, elongate, laterally compressed.
Eyes, small.
Dorsal, 5-7 soft rays, spine moderately short.

Brochis;
Body, deep, high backed and laterally compressed.
Dorsal, 11 to 18 soft rays, Dorsal spine equal to or slightly shorter than the first soft ray.

Corydoras;
Body moderately deep, laterally compressed. (this is a general view as there are many groupings within Corydoras that may prove to be other genera).
Dorsal, 7 to 8 soft rays.

Scleromystax:
Body, moderately deep, laterally compressed,again this is a generalisation as there are two distinct body shapes within this genera, one I would call the 'barbatus' group and the other the 'macropterus' group. The latter has a body shape comparable to Aspidoras the former is high backed similar to Corydoras.
The major characteristic with this genera are the bristle (odontode) growths on the cheeks of mature males.

Dorsal, 7 to 8 soft rays, elongated spine and first three soft rays in mature males, this is also evident in various degrees in the pectoral fins of most species of this genera.

Jools, I hope this is what you were looking for.

Ian

[MatsP]

Ian,

I think that is pretty much what we want - we certainly don't want to know that one genera has more gill-rakers or some bone-construction that you essentially have to disect the fish to find out.

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Mats