Been on a bit of a buying spree lately.

[bekateen]

Hi All,

It feels like I've been on a bit of a shopping spree for fish lately, although not all will be for home. I recently got the

Corydoras schultzei

and a

Bunocephalus verrucosus

(by-catch with B. coracoideus) for home. I won't be keeping the schultzei; they'll be going back to the LFS when a better cory arrives.

I also picked up some captive-bred

Corydoras sterbai

and wild-caught

Corydoras adolfoi

for work. Here's a brief video of the adolfoi in QT. They are quite lovely!

Cheers, Eric

(EDIT: It turns out these are duplicareus, not adolfoi. See below (link here).)

Direct link: New acquisition: Seven Corydoras adolfoi (in QT)

[jac]

Very nice, congratulations

[bekateen]

Thanks Jac.

Now if I can just find a group of

Brachyrhamdia rambarrani

! I'll be "in like Flynn" as they say!

[TwoTankAmin]

@bekateen

Eric, I have bad news for you. At any point in your life if you add up all of the species you used to keep and all off the species you currently keep, the list of fish you have not kept but want to will always be longer. Many have tried and failed to disprove this theory (it may actually be a law).

[bekateen]

...the list of fish you have not kept but want to will always be longer. Many have tried and failed to disprove this theory (it may actually be a law).

Hi TTA,

You're absolutely right.

I'd also add that my wishlist also realigns over time, according to what I already have at the moment. So I currently have two Brachyrhamdia on my wishlist already... but those choices (wishes) are based on the idea that I would simultaneously have certain cory species to keep along with them. If my cory population changes, then it will be only natural that my Brachyrhamdia list might change to match.

That said, I'm counting on fatigue and poverty (hopefully in that order) to bring my expectations and reality into alignment as I age.

Cheers, Eric

[bekateen]

I finally had a moment to inspect my new corys to confirm ID. They were sold as

Corydoras adolfoi

. But after inspection, I discovered that all of them have either strong or weak serrations on the posterior edge of their pectoral spines. I guess they're all

Corydoras duplicareus

and not adolfoi.

That's okay, they are both lovely and they are the size I needed, so I'm still happy. (I wanted adolfoi because they grow larger, but since some of these are already pretty big (as duplicareus go), that's not a problem for me)

Cheers, Eric

Direct link to video: Identifying new corys: C. adolfoi or C. duplicareus?

[MChambers]

Cool video!

Are you saying that the seller was duplicitous in selling you as Adolfoi fish that are Duplicareus?

Sorry, but I couldn't resist. I have some duplicareus (I think) that I really like. They could be adolfoi, of course.

[bekateen]

Thanks!

Are you saying that the seller was duplicitous in selling you as Adolfoi fish that are Duplicareus? ... Sorry, but I couldn't resist.

No, but I suspect that the seller was dup'ed by his own supplier! (I couldn't resist either )

Cheers, Eric

[rcbows]

I have Corydoras melini, young fish available now. I also have C. rabuti breeders wild caught but not spawning yet! If interested in the C. melini PM me or better still email at rcbows@gmail.com. I will sell or trade!

Ron

[bekateen]

Thanks Ron. I'll keep you in mind.

[bekateen]

These

Corydoras duplicareus

are quite prolific. They started spawning about a month ago (not long after I bought them) and they've spawned at least four times - about 1-2 times per week. On the three latest spawns, I've counted 65, 75, and 75 eggs (+/- one or two eggs, I lost track).

Fertilization has been poor, about 70-75%.

As for hatching and post-hatching survival, I put the first big batch of 65 eggs in with a lot of aeneus eggs/fry of same age, so I don't know how well those fry did. Of the latter two batches (which I kept separate), I've had only about 20% hatching from the fertilized eggs.

Here's a video of the fry from the most recent batch.

Cheers, Eric

Direct YouTube link: Corydoras duplicareus fry 6 days old

[stuby]

Very nice! Congratulations and the babies!!
Do you separate the eggs from the adult tank or just leave them in there? I always just leave them in the same tank..... I have a bunch of moss in the tank but I'm sure I would get a lot more if I moved the eggs to a fry saver too.

Chuck

[bekateen]

Spawning continues. Fertilization and survival of fry are improving. I now have about 20 juvies of different ages growing out. Today I managed to catch some video of a few adults in the act of spawning.

Cheers, Eric

Direct YouTube link to video: Corydoras duplicareus spawning

[bekateen]

Fertilization... improving.

Sometimes we speak too soon: Apparently fertilization is NOT improving. I harvested lots of eggs this morning (after yesterday's video of spawning) and I put the eggs in a basket with some young fry. Over half of the new eggs are white (not fungused, just unfertilized or infertile).

Hopefully they learn how to do sperm transfer the proper way.

[bekateen]

The oldest surviving babies are now about 4 weeks old. Currently I have only two at this age, but I also have several a little younger, and about two dozen more 1-2 weeks old.

Cheers, Eric

Direct YouTube link to video: Corydoras duplicareus juvenile 4 weeks old

[bekateen]

Updated pics. Eight babies growing up, now 6 weeks old. Adult color pattern coming out.

[Fundulopanchax76]

Hi ! Do you really know that female Corys actually transfer the sperm with their mouths ? So they have oral sex ! LOL

[bekateen]

Hi ! Do you really know that female Corys actually transfer the sperm with their mouths ? So they have oral sex ! LOL

Some people quote Shakespeare, you have quoted from FaceBook (even if you didn't know it). Therefore, I shall finish that dialogue: "It stops when they get married."

HA! You hunted me down. LOL

Seriously, although other people more knowledgeable than I might say definitively yes, I'd have to play it cautious and say it's more than likely yes. Female and male corys form a "T-position" during mating, where the female moves to the male's side, perpendicular to his body, with her mouth positioned right beside the male's genital area. In some species the male even pins her face against his side while she is there. At the same time, one or both fish might seem to quiver, as if the male is ejaculating and the female is doing something. And the female seems to be active with her mouth all the while, as if she is taking something into her mouth. So yes it really appears that she "drinks" his sperm.

But whether she actually drinks his sperm is not guaranteed, because as far as I know, nobody has ever looked for sperm in her mouth, pharynx or gut after such an activity.

Assuming she does take sperm into her mouth, how does it reach the eggs? Logically guessing, there are really three obvious possibilities:

1. She spits out the sperm... Reasonable, but no such behavior is observed.
2. She allows the sperm to travel down her gut to exit through her anus at the same time eggs are released from her genital papilla... Not particularly reasonable, because it is very unlikely that sperm would survive a journey through the stomach and intestines without being digested. And finally
3. She allows the sperm to wash from her mouth, past her gills and exit under her operculum near her pelvic fins, where the eggs are being held and where they get fertilized. This last possibility seems to be most consistent with the actual motions of the fish and most reasonable given the anatomical limitations of where sperm come from and where they need to get in order fertilize eggs.

So, again, I don't think it's proven, but yes, I believe it's the current best-developed working model for how corys fertilize their eggs.

Cheers, Eric

[Fundulopanchax76]

Dear Erick ! Let me explain everything ! I didnt know this from internet or facebook, i watched it myself.
So i had corys and this is the real act. In the beginning male or two of them chase the female, then she lays some eggs in the pocket made from her pelvic fins, then male and female get so called from you T- position and he contract his body obvious ejaculating in her mouth. She gets his sperm in her mouth. Then she alone goes to the glass of thank first stick the eggs on the glass and then spit the sperm over the eggs and fertilize them. Male doesnt participate in this so he cant fertilize eggs directly himself.

[bekateen]

Dear Erick ... I didnt know this from internet or facebook, i watched it myself.
So i had corys and this is the real act.

Don't worry, I did not mean to suggest anything negative when I said that you quoted FaceBook and "hunted me down." I trust that you were commenting on your own observations. I was only making a humorous observation based upon an extreme coincidence:

By what is a giant coincidence, a few of the people who are specialists and authorities on corys were talking about this exact behavior on FaceBook just a few days ago, and one of them wrote, "...it´s not everyday that we see 'oral sex' in fish." And in response to their comment, I joked, "It stops when they get married."

Never before in my few years of keeping corys have I read or seen anyone stating that the fish were having oral sex, so the timing of your comment so close after the FaceBook comment is very unexpected and therein lies the humor. Since many fishkeepers are members of PlanetCatfish and also friends on FaceBook, I imagined (incorrectly) that perhaps you were one of the people who were participating in that FaceBook conversation, and that therefore you were aware of the joke about marriage.

Cheers, Eric

[Fundulopanchax76]

I said that corys have oral sex a few months ago in a local internet page in my country, so maybe this statement of mine is much before facebook discusions. But that is not important. Its possible african mouthbreeding cichlids fertilize their eggs in female mouth too. So oral sex is valuable in fish world ! LOL

[bekateen]

Its possible african mouthbreeding cichlids fertilize their eggs in female mouth too. So oral sex is valuable in fish world ! LOL

You are absolutely right about other fish using the mouth during sex. Of course the difference between mouthbreeders and corys is that in some species (a lot of them?), female mouthbreeders have the eggs in the mouth where they can be fertilized. But female corys don't put their eggs in their mouths.

I would imagine that one great benefit of using the mouth to direct sperm on the eggs is that the mouth holds the sperm in a small volume of fluid, so that the sperm aren't washed away by water currents. Although obviously there are a great number of fish that spawn in moving water without losing too many sperm cells, perhaps these various oral sex behaviors just add a level of efficiency, certainty and energy savings to the fish (males wouldn't need to make as many sperm, although "sperm are cheap" in an energetic sense when compared to the cost of making eggs.

Cheers, Eric

[bekateen]

Seven weeks along and looking good.

Corydoras duplicareus 7 weeks old

Cheers, Eric