orydoras
hastatus is a very
small mid-water shoaling cory in that
it doesn't spend as much time on the substrate as
other Cory's do, and seems to prefer to sit on the
leaves of aquarium plants rather than sitting on the
bottom.
Corydoras
hastatus
As
mentioned you should house these dwarf Cory's with
each other in a shoal with about about 1 dozen being
a nice number in a species tank, as these small Corydoras
will not do well in a community tank with robust tankmates
unless they are housed with small unagressive Characins.
This is the smallest
Cory to date and the females usually are a bit bigger
than the males. They are similar to Corydoras
pygmaes, another dwarf
Cory, but the black diamond shape in the caudal peduncle
and into the tail of hastatus, with the top
and bottom of this diamond ringed with white, tells
them apart as pygmaes sports a black band that
runs the full length of the body, ending just short
of the tail end, and ending in a slightly broader
band.
Corydoras
pygmaeus
You
can see in the above picture of Corydoras pygmaeus,
the differences in the black mid-lateral line
between it and our factsheet subject this month,
Corydoras hastatus.
Remarks:
Corydoras
hastatus
is
placed in Lineage 4 which includes two of the dwarf
species and a revison would be a resurrection of
the disused Microcorydoras (Myers, 1953)
with the designated type species: C. hastatus.
Common
Name
Dwarf
Corydoras
Synonyms
Corydoras
australe
Family
Callichthyidae
Subfamily
Corydoradinae
Distribution
South America:
Brazil,
Amazonas Villa Bella= Parintins (02º38'S, 56º45'W).
Size
Male: 2.5cm. (1ins ) Female:
3.0cm (1¼ins)
Temp
23-27°C (73-81°F)
p.H.
6.0-7.2.
Characteristics
D 1/7; A 2/5-6; 22 bony scutes
in the upper lateral series, 20 in the lower.
Colouration
Ground colour grey-green
to golden yellow. Back green-olive, flanks yellowish,
belly whitish. Head, body and fins sprinkled with
small dark spots. A black longitudinal band runs
from behind the gill-cover to a lozenge-shaped blotch
at the root of the tail; the latter blotch has a
yellowish margin above and below. A second broader
streak runs along the lower edge of the caudal peduncle.
Fins dull grey, the base of the caudal blackish.
Aquarium
Care & Compatibility
This is akin to most of this
genus, very peaceful, and would be best housed with
small to medium tankmates such as Tetras, Rasboras
and Danios or in a species
tank due to their small size.
Reproduction
I successfully
bred this species in 1988 and from my notes I had
them set-up in a 16 x 8 x 8 tank
furnished with a thin layer of sand, Java Moss and
a sponge filter. I had only the one pair and they
spawned after a cool water change, laying their eggs
on the glass sides and in the Java Moss. They also
laid eggs on a small piece of bogwood that I had put
in the tank after a club member had spawned them this
way and had advised me about the bogwood when I had
difficulty in trying to spawn them. Whether this was
a coincidence or not I do not know, but it worked.
I took the eggs away and into a small container, they
hatched 6 days later and I started feeding with Liquifry
for egglayers for 3 days, then on to brine shrimp.
Diet
Small pieces of food are needed
for this cory such as brine shrimp, crushed flake
food, tablets, freezed dry blocks of tubifex stuck
on the sides of the tank and any such food that will
fit in to their tiny mouth's.
Etymology
Corydoras:
Cory=helmeted;doras=leathery
skin,(helmeted Doras) cuirass. hastatus: Spear-shaped,
(referring to the spot).
References
Alexandrou,
Markos & Taylor, Martin (2011). Evolution,
ecology and taxonomy of the Corydoradinae revisited.
Fuller, I.A.M. & Evers, H-G: 2005 Identifying
Corydoradinae Catfish 384 p. Lambourne, Derek.Corydoras Catfish, An Aquarists Handbook. Seuss, Werner;
Corydoras The most popular catfishes of South America.
Dähne Verlag, Ettlingen. Sterba's
Freshwater fishes of the World Vol.1 1973.
If you would like to contribute to the monthly factsheets with an
article, information or photos, please e-mail
me. You will of course be credited for your work.
If you would like to donate any denomination
of money to the site just click the above link button. All proceeds
will go to running the site and hopefully to keep it going for a few
years yet.