Corydoras narcissus Nijssen
& Isbrucker, 1980 |
his months factsheet is a Corydoras
arcuatus look-a-like but as
seen in the acompanying photograph it has a longer snout. It grows
larger than arcuatus with a size of 7cm whereas the latter
grows to 6cm. Not a very common cory in the U.K. and only appears
sporadically in the retailers as most of the long-nose Corydoras
seem to do.
They are usually quite pricey when they
do appear in the retail outlets stopping most aquarists from buying
a few specimens, hence the lack of success of spawning them. But
if you have spawned them please let me know so I can share it
with the online community.
As with most of the longer nosed cory's,
care must be taken regarding water quality as they don't seem
to be as hardy as the normal short nosed varieties. They also
like a good water movement in the aquarium, so an internal filter
would be a good idea. Corydoras narcissus occurs sympatrically
with C. arcuatus.
The original specimen was collected by Axelrod, Bleher, Bossche,
Gery and Schwartz in a creek flowing into the Rio Ipixuna, 7°31'S,
63°16'W, 30 km west of Humaitá, Rio Purus system, Amazonas,
Brazil.
The etymology (The science
that treats of the origin and history of words and modification
of a particular word) of narcissus is for the Greek river
god Kephissus who fell in love with his own reflection in the
water in memory of those who collected undescribed species of
Corydoras and suggested their own names for the scientific
description. There is one man, who will not be named here, who
I believe was the architect for this story.
Dorsal 1/7; Anal 1/5; Pectorals; 1/10. Two
pairs of rictal barbels, one pair of mental barbels; rictal "flap"
present. Medial border of pectoral fin spine strongly serrate. Intercoracoid
area naked. Pectoral fin spine covered with thick mucous skin, embedding
conspicuous odontodes. This my be an indication that the holotype
is a nuptial male, since in some species with a strong secondary
sexual dimorphism (Corydoras barbatus, C.macropterus, C.octocirrus)
the pectoral fin spines of mature males show a similar cover
Ground colour of head and body whitish. Area
dorso-posterier to eye with widely scattered black pigment, forming
a conspicuous uneven stripe from the anterior edge of the nuchal
plate to the posterior of the last dorso-lateral body scute.
The contour of this stripe is straight to below the adipose fin
spine, after which it bends down and forms a vague concentration
of pigment on the caudal peduncle. A thin black line is visible
on the body below the dorsal fin spine. Widely scattered black pigment
on the snout, obliquely running forward from the eye. Dorsal pair
of rictal barbels greyish.
The two branched caudal fin rays, just dorsal to the lower principal
unbranched ray are black coloured. A similar, though less intense
pigmentation is present in the opposite lobe. Upper half of dorsal
fin spine and adjacent branch of first dorsal fin ray with black
pigment. Adipose fin with black pigment on posterior edge. Remaining
fins clear.
As this is one of the longer snouted species
it will be well suited to most community tanks. A well planted tank
with a soft substrate such as sand so they can bury their snouts
while searching out food.
There is a breeding report that the eggs are
very tiny and are laid in two's around the tank and usually in the
flow of an internal filter much like Corydoras aeneus. Temperature
was quite high at 25c (77f) with a pH.of 7.8.
As per usual for the fry (if you are lucky
enough to breed them.) with microworm, brine shrimp naupli and
egglayer fry food after they have used up their yoksac.
Nijssen, H and Isbrücker, I. J. H.
Three new Corydoras species from
French Guiana and Brazil (Pisces, Siluriformes, Callichthyidae)
Netherlands Journal of Zoology 30(3); 494-503 (1980)
Top Picture: Allan
James @ 
Bottom Picture: Julian Dignall
@ 
|
Brazil:
Rio Ipixuna on Paranapixuna, a tributary of the Rio Purus, 30km
west of Humaita 
