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FACTSHEETS: February 2025 - no. 344

Hoplisoma axelrodi (Rössel, 1962)

he talk of the catfish hobby at the end of 2024 was of course the changes to the Corydoradinae family (Dias et al. 2024) and the split to new genera's and the reinstating of old lineages of Hoplisoma Swainson, 1838, Gastrodermus Cope, 1878, and Osteogaster Cope 1894. Our first factsheet for the Hoplisoma genera is an old favourite, formerly Corydoras axelrodi and now of course, Hoplisoma axelrodi.

Hoplisoma axelrodi

Lineage: Placed in Lineage 9, the "short-snouted" species with the designated type species: C. punctatus. A revision in the future would constitute the resurrection of the genus name Hoplisoma (Agassiz, 1846). As of the latest revision (Dias et al 2024) Corydoras axelrodi has now been placed in Lineage 9 and has the new genus name of Hoplisoma.

The Hoplisoma genera is the largest with, as of 2025, 87 described species and over 100 undescribed C and CW numbers. The genera can be identified by a short rounded head, short rounded snout and a quite stocky to elongate body (Ian A. M. Fuller & Hans-Georg Evers 2024). The members of the Hoplisoma genus reside in Lineage 9 and the rule of thumb is to put only one species of this lineage in your tanks due to possible hybridization but will reside quite happily with other lineages without this trait happening.

Hoplisoma loxozonum - spawning embrace

The above video shows my pair of another species in this genus from the Meta province which resembles H. axelrodi, namely Hoplisoma loxozonum seen here in a T-position (under its previous name of Corydoras loxozonus) spawning embrace in 2014, which gives you an idea of the reproduction of this genera. You can see the egg placement in the females ventral fins looking for a clean place to place the egg.

There are a few different colour forms that go under the name of H. axelrodi. There are also similar types with only a single stripe on the body and others with a short third stripe. Similar is Hoplisoma sp. (C003) also known under the common name of 'Deckeri'. Hoplisoma axelrodi is variable in its colour patterns as shown in the two coded species CW021 and CW169 which are now been identified as colour forms of H. axelrodi (Ian A. M. Fuller & Hans-Georg Evers 2024).

Meta River

Distrbution: Colombia; either Vichada, Meta, Arauca, or Boyaca, Río Meta.Type locality: Columbia, Rio Meta.

The Meta River is a major left tributary of the Orinoco River in eastern Colombia and southern Venezuela, South America. The Meta originates in the Eastern Ranges of the Andes and flows through the Meta Department, Colombia as the confluence of the Humea, Guatiquía and Guayuriba rivers.

Remarks: Can sometimes be a bit sensitive when first imported as wild specimens. When first water changing use a dechlorinator that removes chlorine or chloramine from the water, or leave the water standing for a few days. This species is still found on some online sources as Corydoras axelrodi.

Common Name

Banded Corydoras

Synonyms

Corydoras axelrodi

Family

Callichthyidae

Subfamily

Corydoradinae

Distribution

South America: Colombia; either Vichada, Meta, Arauca, or Boyaca, Río Meta.

Size

Male: 4.5cm. (1¾ins) Female: 5.0cm. (2ins)

Temp.

22-25°C (71-77°F)

p.H.

6.5-7.2.

Characteristics

Head short and compact.

Colouration

Body colour light silver grey or light brown. The first fin rays of the dorsal fin are black and the lower edge of the dorsal fin merges with the dark band running along the ridge of the back. A wide black band extends along the lateral line from the head into the caudal fin. Below this are one or two small black bands composed of spots and patches. A mask extends over and below both eyes. The whole head area is light brown, and the gill covers shimmer yellow.

Aquarium Care & Compatibility

This is akin to most of this genus, very peaceful, and would be best housed with small to medium sized tankmates such as Tetras, Rasboras and Danios or in a species tank for breeding purposes. Best to purchase 6 individuals or more as they will be happier in a group.

Reproduction

As per standard Corydoras/Hoplisoma breeding structures.

Set them up with preferably more males than females ( a ratio of 2:1 is good ) in a 18" x 12" x 12" tank with either fine gravel or sand with either sponge filter or a corner filter box with a good current. Install some java moss or wool mops, this gives the females a choice of where to place their eggs but you will probably find that they will mostly lay them on the glass anyway. A temperature in the mid-seventies is good with a p.H around about the neutral (7) mark. Feed a diet of frozen or live food such as bloodworm, whiteworm (sparingly because of the fat content) grindleworm, daphnia and a good quality flake or tablet food. Make a 50% water change, when you notice the female(s) have fattened up, with water that is cooler so as to bring the temperature down. A good idea is to also add a small internal filter to push the water around the aquarium which will also oxygenate it. If successful you can either take the adults out and leave the eggs in the main tank or reverse it and take the eggs out by rolling them of the tank sides with your fingers into a small hatching tank, you can then decide to add a anti-fungus remedy or to leave alone. If you make the wrong choice and the eggs fungus you will get another chance as once Hoplisoma start to breed the first time they will carry on using the afore-mentioned process. There are no hard and fast rules to breeding Cory's but the above method works for me and countless other breeders, you may find another method that suits you, as long as you are successful, that's what matters.

Sexual differences

Males will usually posses pointed ventral fins with the females having a more of a rounded pair. The best bet is to look down on the species and you can sex the individuals by the females girth being fuller, if mature, just behind the ventrals.

Diet

Feeding is not a problem as they will readily consume commercial foods such as flake, granular and tablet foods and frozen foods such as bloodworms and daphnia, like all fish they benefit from regular feedings of live foods such as Daphnia, Cyclops, Grindal worms and bloodworms.

Glossary of Terms

Caudal fin: The tail.
Dorsal fin: The primary rayed fin(s) on top of the body.
Gills: The organs utilized to obtain oxygen from the water.
Lateral line: A sensory line, along the sides of the body.
Ventral fins: The paired fins, between the pectorals and the anal fins.

Etymology

Hoplisoma: hóplon, shield or armor; soma, body, referring to bony plates on sides.
axelrodi: In honour of Dr Herbert Richard Axelrod.

References

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.
Ian A. M. Fuller & Hans-Georg Evers (2011). Identifying Corydoradinae Catfish Supplement 1. Ian Fuller Enterprises.
Ian A. M. Fuller & Hans-Georg Evers (2024). Identifying Corydoradinae Catfish Second Edition. Ian Fuller Enterprises.
Seus, Werner, Corydoras. The most popular armoured catfishes of South America. Dähne Verlag, Ettlingen GmbH. 1993 218p.
www.corydorasworld.com

IUCN Red List

Hoplisoma axelrodi is restricted to the upper Guaviare and Meta tributaries in the plains. The area of occupancy (AOO) is best estimated at 1,536 km². Extraction for ornamental fisheries is a threat, and there is an inferred continuing decline in mature individuals based on this. Furthermore, the habitat of the species is continuously affected by the expansion of the agricultural and urban frontier, leading to an inferred continuing declines in habitat. There are 2-4 locations based on these threats. Therefore, it is assessed as Vulnerable (IUCN 2021).

Photo-Video Credits

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ScotCat Sources

Etymology-genus name

Etymology-specific name

Other Sources

Fishbase

Wikipedia

Catalog of Fishes

GBIF

FishNet2

iNaturalist

IUCN