SCOTCAT.COM  

his Corydoras/Hoplisoma has been around for many years and is still very popular, and when it pops up in auctions they can still fetch a reasonable price. The main talking point about sterbai is of course the pectoral fins, being the colour of orange, one of a handful of Cory's with this trait, the ventral fins are also this colour. In well marked specimens you can get an orange colouration in the abdomen area.

Hoplisoma sterbai

Hoplisoma sterbai is sometimes confused with Brochis haraldshultzi the difference being that H. sterbai has for simplistic reasons a dark basic body colour with white spots on the head and snout area, while C. haraldshultzi in the bottom image has it in reverse, a light body with dark spots/reticulations. Another member of the Corydoradinae sub-family confused with sterbai is Hoplisoma araguaiaense but it has no orange colouration to the fins as you can see in the second image below.

Brochis haraldschultzi - head view

Hoplisoma araguaiaense

To make matters even more complicated there is an albino version bred in Singapore which first made its appearance in 1998. You can even see an orange taint in the pectoral and ventral fins in this variety. Only time will tell if this will become as popular as the Osteogaster aenea 'albino' with aquarists. I have a feeling that it won't go down too well with some Corydoras enthusiasts! and of time of writing (May 2002) it is still quite an expensive purchase, but I quite like it.

Hoplisoma sterbai - albino

The common version which we all know and love occurs in the Upper Rio Guapore which straddles the border between Brazil and Bolivia. Named In honour of Dr Günther Sterba who in my humble opinion wrote some of the best books on the hobby in the late 60's and early 70's, and which still hold up well to this day.

Hoplisoma sterbai is much like any other species of the genus Corydoras/Hoplisoma, easy to keep but will do better in a group as they are sociable animals and do like their own company. They will also appreciate a bit of water movement in the aquarium.

In 2003 in Bolivia there was a collection made by Joachim Knaack in the Río Itenez which was very similar to our Factsheet of the Month subject. You can access the information and image here.

Sterba's Catfish

Corydoras sterbai

Corydoradinae

South America: Brazil, Upper Rio Guaporé, near Pontes e Lacerda.

Male: 6.0cm (2¼ins) Female: 6.5cm (2½ins)

23-28°C (73-83°F)

Dorsal 1/7; Anal 1/5; Head is short and compact. Stubby appearance.

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 for breeding purposes.

Not too difficult, will breed as per any Corydoras/Hoplisoma species giving a good diet and water conditions, and water changes of a lower temperature to induce spawning. Two males to one female or one pair. Setup could be a 18"x12"x12" tank with sand or bare bottom with Java moss, Java fern and a sponge filter, adding if you like a power filter for extra aeration and circulation of the water all leading to a hopefully successful spawning.

Adults will take a variety of foods, good quality flake food, tablets, frozen bloodworm and the occasional feeding of whiteworm. Start of the fry, after using up their yolksac, with microworm, brineshrimp and fry flake.

Hoplisoma: hóplon, shield or armor; soma, body, referring to bony plates on sides.
sterbai: In honour of Dr Günther Sterba.

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.
Fuller, I.A.M. & Evers, H-G: 2005 Identifying Corydoradinae Catfish 384 p.

Photo Credits

© Allan James @ 
© Chris Ralph
© Johnny Jensen @
© Mark Duffill