Given the current (June 2025) 159 C-numbers and 216 CW-numbers, you would think that all 203 scientifically accepted species of the subfamily Corydoradinae (i.e. Aspidoras, Brochis, Corydoras, Gastrodermus, Hoplisoma, Osteogaster and Scleromystax) would be appearing more or less regularly in the hobby. But this is not the case. Two longnosed species from the Rio Tapajós catchment, scientifically described in 1972 and 1976, are still a mystery: Brochis bifasciata and B. ornata (both originally described as Corydoras species). While it has still not been possible to import specimens of Brochis ornata that correspond exactly to the original description (there are, of course, all kinds of very, very similar-looking species), B. bifasciata has finally been imported recently.
Why is this beautiful long-snouted fish so rare? Nobody knows; the first scientific description was made, as already mentioned, in 1972. The type locality is given as follows: Creek at left bank of Rio Cururu, tributary of upper River Tapajós near Maloca do Conzale, about 7°45’S, 58°00’W, Pará State, Brazil.
Brochis bifasciata is the long-snouted version of the equally very, very beautiful Hoplisoma sp. CW127 (https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/10-catfishes/corydoras-sp-aff-parallelus-cw127-4/), which is also very difficult to obtain. According to the exporter, both species come from the Rio Jamanxim, a tributary of the Tapajós. Hoplisoma sp. C133 (https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/10-catfishes/10a-catfishes-corydoras-co/corydoras_from_the_rio_jamanxim_c_bifasciatus__en/), which is very similar to CW127 and lacks the black zone in the dorsal fin, which merges into a shoulder band running towards the belly, was also occasionally imported with the indication of origin “Tapajós”. This pattern is very typical for Hoplisoma sp. CW127 and is also found in B. bifasciata. For Hoplisoma sp. C133 there is an identically marked Brochis species, i.e. a long-snouted species, which to our knowledge has not yet been assigned a C or CW number. However, there is another CW number for a fish that is very similar to B. bifasciata and is also imported together with it: Brochis sp. CW135. These animals have a slightly different dorsal pattern. In our opinion, this falls within the variance of B. bifasciata, but who knows? Since the phenotype CW135 has so far only appeared in single specimens, we do not offer it separately from B. bifasciata. It should also be mentioned that in the type specimen of B. bifasciata the lower of the two longitudinal bands runs along the midline, i.e. where the two rows of lateral bone plates meet. In our current import, there are also specimens in which the second longitudinal band runs clearly below the midline. All in all, B. bifasciata appears to be as variable as B. pulcher, for example.
One thing is for sure: the Corydoras-like armored catfishes still offer enough exciting questions to keep generations of scientists and aquarists busy!
For our customers: Brochis bifasciata have code 224204 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
