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FACTSHEETS: February 2012 - no. 188

Gastrodermus elegans Steindachner, 1877

n old favourite in the hobby and a species that has been bred numerous times. Males have more colourful markings than the females and also have three black bands in the dorsal fin. The first image shows the male of the genus and the second shows a pair with the male to the front.

Gastrodermus elegans = male

Gastrodermus elegans - male

There are a few different forms of this species and one of them was described by Holly in 1940 as Corydoras pestai. This is now a synonym of C. elegans but there is a train of thought that this species (C. pestai) may be valid and has been treated as so in Isbrücker (2001b: 232). The list of other imported species still to be described are C041, C088, C089, C123, C126, C132, CW008, CW018, CW019, CW022 and CW029.

Gastrodermus elegans = pair male to front

Gastrodermus elegans - pair male to front

In July 2000 I, along with other U. K. catfish enthusiasts, travelled to Peru and fished the the Amazon River tributaries including the Orosa River. Corydoras elegans was the first species that I netted in the Tunche Cano stream and so this species holds a special place in my heart as the excitement at catching wild Corydoras still lives with me to this day. You can read the articles on this expedition on ScotCat here.

Madre Selva Forest Preserve; Tunche Cano stream, Peru

Wild caught specimens

The above images show one of the catchment areas that we found C. elegans and also showing the species 12 years later on in 2012. I did not manage to breed this wild stock but they have proved to be very long living. I did breed this species many years before which you can read about here in this article.

Remarks: Corydoras elegans is placed in Lineage 5 and after a revision by "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 2024" of the genus name Gastrodermus Cope, 1878 it is now Gastrodermus elegans.

Common Name

Elegant Corydoras

Synonyms

Corydoras pestai

Family

Callichthyidae

Subfamily

Corydoradinae

Distribution

South America: Upper Amazon River basin. Type locality: Teffé, Brazil.

Size

Male: 5.0cm (2ins) Female: 5.5cm (2¼ins)

Temp

23-25°C (73-77°F)

p.H.

6.0-7.2.

Characteristics

Short and compact. Dorsal1/7; Anal fin; 1/6-7; 21-22 bony scutes in the upper lateral series, 20 in the lower.

Colouration

Ground colour yellowish, upperside darker approaching to pale ochre. Underside paler, white apart from the lateral scutes. Upper surface of head marbled with grey- brown. A dark, vague-edged, wedge-shaped band extends from the hinder part of the head to the caudal peduncle, its anterior portion passing through several blotches. Below this band is accompanied along the flanks by a pale stripe which, in turn, has a row of dark spots along its lower edge. Gill cover is a brilliant pale blue. Fins grey. A mottled and spotted pattern exists in the head area. Males are more ornately patterned and have also reticulated bands on the dorsal fin, while the dorsal of the female is usually clear.

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

Bred many times in the hobby and they spawn in the same Corydoras pattern which you can read about here.

Sexual Differences

Males are more ornately patterned and have also reticulated bands on the dorsal fin, while the dorsal of the female is usually clear.

Diet

Readily accepts a mixed and varied diet which includes granular foods, tablet food, frozen bloodworm and a good quality flake.

Glossary of Terms

Adipose fin: Fleshy finlike projection without rays, behind the rayed dorsal fin.
Caudal peduncle: The area between the dorsal fin and the tail.
Scutes: Bony covering.

Etymology

Gastrodermus: The lining membrane of the alimentary tract of an invertebrate, used especially when the germ-layer origin is obscure.
elegans: Elegant, or nice.

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.
Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Fuller, I.A.M. & Evers, H-G: 2005 Identifying Corydoradinae Catfish 384 p.
James, Allan; Breeding Corydoras elegans Steindachner 1877, ScotCat article no. 7.
James, Allan; Peru 2000 Fish List ScotCat article no. 44.
Sterba, Gunther; 1 sterba's freshwater fishes of the world. t.f.h. 1966. 456p.
www.corydorasworld.com

Photo Credits

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ScotCat Sources

Article

Etymology-genera

Etymology-specific name

Online Sources

Fishbase

Wikipedia

Catalog of Fishes

GBIF

Fishnet2

iNaturalist