Hi guys,
Thanks for the quick reply again.
Actually, all the 8 pieces are from the same batch and are mixed with corydoras loretoensis. So the first and second fish are from the same batch and probably same species.
Achim wrote:
The upper fish clearly belongs to the "armatus group" (To which I.M.O.
C. armatus,
C. sp. "dorsalis",
C96 and
C. loretoensis belong), and may I.M.O. be a variety of C96. Young fish of C. sp. C96 have few markings on the body (additional pic see
here), older ones develop more and more markings on the body like
this one.
I have no clue about your second fish. However, as you already stated, its clearly not C. loretoensis.
I'm aware that the C96 will develop more distinctive markings as they mature. The first picture actually shows a juvenile fish with SL of about 2.5 cm. Here's one with an adult for comparison.
The purpose of looking at the C96 is to determine that they are not the same as the species in doubt above. However, they do share the same body shape and band across the eyes.
Coryman wrote:I think the first pic's are nearer to C armatus than anything else and could possibly be juveniles of that species. Many juveniles of a species show a lot more pigment, especially around the head, than adults.
These fishes are about 3 - 4 cm SL. So they should be juvenile since we do not know how large they will eventually grow up to. However, if they are anything like Corydoras loretoensis, then they are not going to get much bigger.
Here's another picture of a third fish from the same batch.
I'll have a look as some of the Japanese publications and see if I can dig up anything as well.
Really appreciate you guys taking the time to run through this for me. Thanks!
Cheers,