Odd Corydoras Panda Behavior

[Kestrix]

Well I've searched online and on the forums to see if there was an explanation for this odd eating behavior I noticed today.

I recently added frozen bloodworms to the food menu for my fish as I have "acquired" a new (to me) tank of ADFs (African Dwarf Frogs). Since it was impossible for me to break off a small enough chunk for those little hooligans I've started feeding my various corydoras species and pigfish (also known as a female betta) the extra worms. Now I have a couple of tanks that have various groups of Corydoras Panda in them. The older group in one tank is a mix of wild and tank raised ones and have been more or less thriving for nearly a year now. They even survived their filter killing itself with fire.

Recently I got a new group of tank raised pandas being kept in an emergency tank (my cat shattered part of the glass lid for their actual tank.) as this one has a lid. While watching them feed on the bloodworms I injected via a turkey baster into the substrate (round/smooth river pebbles over this weird aquasoil) I noticed one of the pandas seemed to be eating a bloodworm, just to "spit" it out of the gills. I didn't notice if any of the other pandas in this tank were doing this, and I know the older pandas in the other tank weren't.

So is this something I should be considered with? None of the other Corydoras species seem to do this either. For the record the tanks are all nearly a year old and with heavy planting of nitrate loving stem plants including the illegal anachranis.

[MatsP]

This is "normal" behaviour indeed. I've seen my C. sterbai do this, and there was a photo some time ago of a cory with a bloodworm hanging out it's gill covers. It appears to be their way of coping with food that is a bit too large to eat in one go.

--
Mats

[Kestrix]

Oh, good! Thanks. I'm glad it's normal though it does seem a little creepy.

[Vlacek]

Being new to corys, it looks creepy indeed. I've seen c.pygmaeus, c.panda, c.diplicareus and c.habrosus doing the same thing. Bloodworm going out and in behind gill cover again and again before it finally gets processed.

[andywoolloo]

yeah, same here, it is odd the first time you see it.