Questions about Green Bronze Cories

hellocatfish · Post by **hellocatfish** » 14 Apr 2007, 19:59

I recently bought 4 cories from PetsMart that were labeled as Green Cories, with the C.Aeneus name given as their scientific name. This Petsmart also has Brochis they sell as Emerald Catfish, with their correct Brochis Splendens labeling as well. Mine are definitely not Brochis--shape is totally different, fins are very much Aeneus. What it shares with Brochis is a very peridot green sheen.

I've never seen this sheen on bronze cories before and was wondering about the origins. Is this the result of selective breeding, or was it a variation found in nature? Mine come from a fish farm in Florida, according to the clerk. And that's all I have time to ask as my daughter has decided to have a meltdown about something....later...

Bas Pels · Post by **Bas Pels** » 14 Apr 2007, 22:43

Quite a while ago, if I remember correctly, it was 28 December 2003, I received a shiopment of fihehes, containing Brocis spelendens and C aeneus.

The Brocis were bigger, had a larger back fin, but had precicely the same kind of green (I put them in the amse tank) However, as the Brochis were for a friend, I can not say how long the colors appeared similar

Mike_Noren · Post by **Mike_Noren** » 15 Apr 2007, 12:23

Corydoras sp. "green" is a not a cultivar, it exists in the wild in Peru.
http://www.planetcatfish.com/cotm/cotm. ... cle_id=110

"Corydoras aeneus" is not one species, but what is known as a species complex: many separate species lumped together under one name. Usually species complexes consists of species which are almost-but-not-quite impossible to tell apart - this is obviously not the case with "Corydoras aeneus", where the comprising species often have strikingly different and unique coloration.

It is unknown to me howcome so many so completely different fish have somehow got lumped together under one name, although I would suspect it's a result of using a single character as "defining" the species, and ignoring the resulting mess when it is found that the character is shared by a large number of species.

If anyone has info on how the "Corydoras aeneus" mess came to be, and if there's any ongoing efforts to rectify the situation, I'd be interested in hearing about it.

hellocatfish · Post by **hellocatfish** » 17 Apr 2007, 06:45

Thanks Mike for your comments. The link you supplied is one I had taken a look at before posting my question, but I was not able to enlarge that photo of the "C Aeneus Green" to compare it better to my own fish. The description says this variety is shaped more like an Elegans...and that confuses me as to whether or not my greenies are the same as the green cory described on that page. I have an Elegans and to me the Elegans is shaped vaguely like a carp. My green cories are not shaped at all like my Elegans. They are shaped very much like my Albino Aeneus. But the color is certainly right.

I was wondering if my green cories would be as hardy and long-lived as the usual bronze cory that has grown familiar to us over the years. Oh well, now I'm not completely sure what my cories are. I will have to guess at the closest match.

Meanwhile, having seen how gorgeous the green sheen is on my cories, now I'd love to see the green lazer cories in person, too. It certainly is a glorious time to be interested in corydoraseseses...er...cories.

Coryologist · Post by **Coryologist** » 17 Apr 2007, 12:37

Greetings. Does you fish look like this? - Frank

hellocatfish · Post by **hellocatfish** » 17 Apr 2007, 19:08

It looks a LOT like my fish, but not exactly. The coloring is very close, but the shape is a little off. Is that a photo of a female? At least one of my fish is a bit chunky like that toward the tailfin. But most of them have more taper to the tail and are definitely thinner. I THINK the noses on mine are all more rounded and blunt. I did just look at them and that was my impression of their faces. I tried to get a photo of them but they are in motion most of the time, and when they are not, they swim away very fast when I put the camera up to the tank. My autofocus does not work well with the flash off, and when the flash is on, it is hard to get a clear photo because of the glare.

Where there are further differences is in color distribution. The green on mine goes further down toward the belly, and is more uniformly green and not so dark in the center. Of course, that can be due to differences in lighting for the photograph.

At any rate, that C Venezuelans is close enough to be a serious consideration for a match. My fish are about an inch and a quarter from tailfin to nose. Next chance I get I'll go try and measure them to be sure because I'm not a very good estimator of size. And when I say I'll try and measure them...well that will be comical to say the least...that attempt will also be an approximation but at least better than my trying to eyeball them and estimate a size without an actual tape measure in front of me!

Freshman · Post by **Freshman** » 18 Apr 2007, 05:28

is it Corydoras melanotaenia?

hellocatfish · Post by **hellocatfish** » 18 Apr 2007, 20:24

The Melanotaenia is a much better match to mine as the fins are much more like mine and the color shading looks more even as mine are. The thing that throws me off, though, is still the nose. All 4 of mine have more blunt noses than either fish in the photos has. My green cories have exactly the same kind of noses that my albino aeneus have. I am so sorry I will try again to get a photo of at least one of them. Maybe I can at least get a decent snout photo.

I was just thinking mine are ordinary bronze cories but some new sheen variation I hadn't seen before but everyone else has. Mine are definitely peridot green. Who would have thought PetsMart would sell such beautiful cories I'd never seen anywhere else...and healthy, too!

My LFS that I'd been patronizing can't even begin to compete in regards to health of fish. I got so used to losing one to a half of all the fish in a given purchase from the LFS. All my PetsMarties so far are thriving. Including darling Clementine. I'd been trying several times to complete my shoal of Aeneus only to have them die off from the time I let them into the tank...and now assuming these green ones are Aeneus, I have. Even if they are not, they've got all of my bigger cories shoaling with them. The Sterba have been practically jumping out of their skins in excitement since I added the green cories to the tank. They had been kind of hiding out, but now they shoal with the Greenies nonstop. So do the Peppers.

Whatever these green cories are, they have brought a lot of happiness to my tank inhabitants.

Waldo · Post by **Waldo** » 18 Apr 2007, 21:14

how many rays does it have on it's dorsal... can you take a picture?

hellocatfish · Post by **hellocatfish** » 19 Apr 2007, 10:55

So far no luck with pictures. They skitter off when I move in trying to focus.

I haven't counted the dorsal rays but I'll see if I can do that tomorrow when the tank is lit again. It is very hard to find them at rest so I will try my best but can't guarantee I'll be able to see the rays well enough to count them.

Mike_Noren · Post by **Mike_Noren** » 19 Apr 2007, 13:54

Bribe them with food. In my experience, Corydoras value food higher than they're afraid of cameras.

Waldo · Post by **Waldo** » 19 Apr 2007, 19:40

Haha.

In this order Food, Fear for ones self preservation, Procreation.

hellocatfish · Post by **hellocatfish** » 21 Apr 2007, 06:06

I tried answering last night but my internet connection went kerflooey. So, sorry for the delay. I THINK I counted 8 rays. I mean, I'm 40 and had to peer over my specs (for nearsightedness) so that my middle-aged farsightedness could focus on the cory, and to my dismay the rays were close together and like an idiot I had to squint while painstakingly counting aloud to make sure I didn't count the same ray twice.

I do not know how the people who took all the photos in the CatELog managed to get such amazing shots. My photos are all of blobs. If I turn my flash off, the fish comes out a blurry blob. The camera simply won't focus with the flash turned off. When the flash is on, I get a white mess.

hellocatfish · Post by **hellocatfish** » 22 Apr 2007, 08:04

I FINALLY got clear enough photos of two of the little guys. I'm kind of tired to try and get them uploaded to my photo account right now and I will be at my in-laws tomorrow and out part of Monday. So I probably won't have them posted until Monday night at the earliest.

hellocatfish · Post by **hellocatfish** » 29 Apr 2007, 19:31

They are definitely corydoras aeneus, or whatever passes for aeneus nowadays, until someone changes it. I found exactly my fish in a photo somewhere right here in PlanetCatfish the other day.

Questions about Green Bronze Cories

Questions about Green Bronze Cories

C. aeneus.