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Ingo Seidel (1) Ian Fuller (1) Johnny Jensen's Photographic Library (1) Allan James (2) Joakim Schön (1) Freitas MO et al 2023 (1)

The Aspidoras genera is most of the time difficult to identify to species unless the exact catchment area is listed and this confers to the type locality of the given species and also the markings of the holotype or paratype. The second thumbnail image has been tentatively listed as cf. fuscoguttatus, cf. meaning "confer", an animal that appears similar to an identified species, but without certainty or confirmation. The holotype description describes A. fuscoguttatus as having a narrow solid brown oblique line running from the eye down to the snout which does not show in the second thumbnail image. The other markings are close such as the irregular blotches along the midline and the medium sized sometimes faint blotches below the dorsum of the body and just above the ventral area. The adipose fin has a small dark brown spot. The colour pattern can be variable. Lineage: All Aspidoras belong to Lineage 2 and when there is a revision they will stay as Aspidoras von Ihering, 1907 with the type species of A. rochai Ihering, 1907. As of the latest update (Dias et al 2024), Aspidoras fuscoguttatus has been placed in Lineage 2 and has retained the genus name of Aspidoras. Reproduction: Has been bred. Similar to Corydoras in this respect but they do tend to eat their eggs, so removing parents or eggs after spawning is a good idea. They lay their eggs in Java moss or on the aquarium glass and you can raise the young as per the Corydoras genus. Aquarium Care: Inoffensive catfish which will suffer at the hands of aggressive tank mates. Will do well in a species tank or a community tank with smaller inmates such as tetras and rasboras. Best to keep in a shoal of at least four. Diet: Prefer live foods such as newly hatched brine shrimp but will also take frozen food and a good quality flake, plus tablet food. Etymology: The specific name fuscoguttatus: fuscus, dusky, dark or swarthy; guttatus, dappled, speckled or spotted, referring to the dark brown markings of various sizes on body. Remarks: C037, C118, and C119 have all turned out to be the same species as Aspidoras fuscoguttatus. Many species of Aspidoras are difficult to tell apart unless there is area catchment information available. This species has now been found in the São Francisco river basin, Brazil (see reference below).

C118, C119, C036

None

Callichthyidae

South America: Brazil, Mato Grosso, Rio Paraná system, Córrego Corguinho, estrada da Três Lagoas (20°46’S, 51° 43’W), Conceição  do Taboado.

4.0cm (1½ins)

22-25°C (71-77°F)

6.0-7.0.

Alexandrou, Markos & Taylor, Martin. (2011). Evolution, ecology and taxonomy of the Corydoradinae revisited.
Angelica C Dias, Luiz F C Tencatt, Fabio F Roxo, Gabriel de Souza da Costa Silva, Sérgio A Santos, Marcelo R Britto, Martin I Taylor, Claudio Oliveira, Phylogenomic analyses in the complex Neotropical subfamily Corydoradinae (Siluriformes: Callichthyidae) with a new classification based on morphological and molecular data, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2024;, zlae053.
Freitas MO, Hauer A, Dalcin RH, Ossa-Guerra LED, Artoni RF, Moura RL, Abilhoa V (2023) New records of Aspidoras fuscoguttatus Nijssen & Isbrücker, 1976 (Callichthyidae, Corydoradinae) from the São Francisco river basin, Brazil. Check List 19(6): 901-908.
Fuller, I.A.M. & Evers, H-G: 2005 Identifying Corydoradinae Catfish Ian Fuller Enterprises. 384 p.
Ian A. M. Fuller & Hans-Georg Evers (2011). Identifying Corydoradinae Catfish Supplement 1. Ian Fuller Enterprises.
Nijssen H. & Isbrücker I.J.H.: 1976, The South American Plated Catfish Genus Aspidoras, R. von Ihering,1907, with descriptions of nine new species from Brazil (Pisces, Siluriformes, Callichthyidae).