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Allan James (3) Mona Opland (2) Karsten Schönherr (1) Mark Goh (1) Haakon Haagensen (1) Benny Hubel Hansen (1)

This species is found in the middle stretches of the Rio Negro in Brazil and is a look-alike. It has the same colouration as Hoplisoma metae from the river of the same name in Colombia but H. davidsandsi has a longer snout and the black stripe carries on into the bottom lobe of the caudal fin while H. metae stops short at the caudal peduncle. The Hoplisoma melini connection has H. melini having the same black body stripe ending on the bottom lobe of the caudal fin, but the stripe separates just behind the dorsal fin and continues as two lines over the back of the body. The colouration is also different with H. melini being a dirty white with black specks to the edges of the body scutes, while H. davidsandsi has a tan colouration with no specks. 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 davidsandsi has now been placed in Lineage 9 and has the new genus name of Hoplisoma. Aquarium Care: 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. Diet: Readily accepts a mixed and varied diet which includes granular foods, tablet food, frozen bloodworm and a good quality flake. Etymology: The specific name davidsandsi: in honour of English aquarist and amateur Corydoras taxonomist David Sands (b. 1951), for his “underestimated contribution to the popularisation of catfishes”. Remarks: This species is still found on some online sources as Corydoras davidsandsi.

Sands Catfish

Corydoras davidsandsi

Callichthyidae

South America: Brazil; Rio Unini whitewater area of the Rio Negro.

Male: 5.5cm (2¼ins) Female: 6.0cm (2½ins)

23-26°C (73-79°F)

6.0-7.2.

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.
ScotCat Article no 003. "Breeding Corydoras davidsandsi, Black 1987".
The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database © Christopher Scharpf.