Cory identification needed. Thank you in advance.

[Corycory]

Saved a cory form a green barb tank in the fish shop being nipped to death. It was the only one they had of this kind. Can anyone please identify it for me so I can plan buying a couple of friends for it if it makes it:

[Corycory]

I was just told it's corydoras melanistius.

[Karsten S.]

Hi,

I would tend more to C. brevirostris.

Cheers,

[adanac50]

Panda cory?

[Corycory]

I would tend more to C. brevirostris.

According to planet catfish, corydoras melanistius differs from Corydoras brevirostris by not having any patterning in the caudal fin. My cory is a bit damaged but I think there's no pattern.

[corylady]

it looks kinda like an adolphi.

[CharlieM9]

it's defintely not an adolfoi as they have no "dots" on their body. and they have a black line on the back and not a more saddled spot. Yours look alot like mine that I recently purchased. You can see the thread here http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... 13&t=37504

[The.Dark.One]

I don't think it is leucomelas or adolfoi. IMO it is either melanistius or a female brevisrostris. hard to tell as caudal is damaged.

[Richard B]

Melanistius was my initial thought

[Corycory]

It's fins are growing, so I'll take a picture when it gets into full shape.
Do you think it's a female or a male?

Edit: I just looked at it and the tail is clear, no dots or anything so it does look like melanistius so far.

[Corycory]

A bit of a late update on the cory but I haven't had time for him unfortunately. I think it is melanistius. Here he is more than 3 months later below. Would please confirm what type he is, so I can try to find him some friends, although it doesn't look like it's going to be easy.

[Corycory]

Here is a better veiw of the tail. What do you think, is it a male or a female? I call it him, because his belly never got rounded like my albino and laser females. One laser female is visible in the background in the first picture above.

[Karsten S.]

Hi,

there is a lot of confusion with these species.
There are a lot of similar ones that are hardly to tell apart.

Additionally I think there are lots of pictures in books and the internet labelled with C. melanistius that actually show different species.
This includes some or all picture in the data base of PCF. Comparing to type specimen the snout is too short.
C. melanistius is a long snouted species, the closest relative is C. haraldschultzi !

Your cory is definitely a short snouted species. I still think that it's C. brevirostris.
It looks nevertheless more like a female to me.

Cheers,

[Corycory]

Thanks kamas. I was just about to post some examples from planetcatfish that were confusing. I came across the short snout meaning of "C. brevirostris" and mine has quite a round one so it can't be a melanistius I suppose? So I should try finding some brevirostris friends for her/him? I can't even trust the fish shops with that

What makes you believe he is a female? It doesn't matter much but because I can't figure it out myself.

[Coryman]

Without know its catching location I would say that the fish shown is C142, it has the same colour pattern as C. melanisteus, but the latter is a slightly larger species, which also has a longer snout.

Ian

[Corycory]

Thanks a million Ian!!!
The C142 looks exactly like my cory.
Now the question is where do I find more of these here... I already asked a shop if they can source some brevirostris for me. I need to contact them again.

[Corycory]

P.S
The shop where I got this one doesn't know where it came from. They said it came as a contaminant. I failed to ask at the time what other stock it came with. They gave it to me for free because of it's poor condition, being nipped to death in one of their tanks with barbs.

[Corycory]

I contacted the shop again. They'll try to get some C.142's for me
Hopefully they can.
The poor cory is so lonely in a tank full of corys. My albinos and lasers try to nudge him sometimes. I've seen them taking turns just "sniffing" his/her belly(not a T position) but he won't play with them. He/she does his own thing most of the time.
I can't wait to see the excitement when he gets some true company. Maybe I can even try breeding them one day if I am lucky enough.

[Corycory]

To be further annoying, I found a shop that is selling these corys, labelled as "melanistuis" as seen in the picture.



Looking at the picture, it looks like my cory but then again there are so many similar types I get confused. Is it possible the shop has them misindetified and that's what I am looking for?
My cory doesn't have dots on the tail or fins, just on the base of the tail, if that matters. I am waiting for confirmation to see if I can get a bunch of the C.142 from another place, but it isn't 100%