Two beautiful new panda catfish (Hoplisoma) arrived from Colombia in 2010. As these species have not yet been scientifically studied, they have been assigned the code numbers CW49 and CW51. At first there was some confusion as to whether they were different species or just two color forms of the same species. Both have already been bred in the aquarium and have proved to be pure. This strongly suggests that they are two different species.
According to information on Ian Fuller’s website “http://www.corydorasworld.com”, where the CW numbers are also assigned, CW51 originates from the border area between Brazil and Colombia, where it is found in a small creek near the settlement of Villa Bittencourt. The location is close to the point where the Apaporis flows into the Rio Caqueta. This information comes from Heiko Bleher. According to the same source, CW49 comes from Colombia, also from a small creek that flows into the Rio Ica, close to the Indian settlement of Boa Vista.
Basically, the two differ in the shape of the black saddle spot. In CW49 it is about as wide as the dorsal fin, in CW51 it is significantly wider and only ends at the base of the adipose fin. How far this saddle patch extends towards the belly varies somewhat from individual to individual and is less variable in CW49 than in CW51. For pictures of CW51 see: https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/fisharchive/corydoras-sp-cw-51-2/
There is also a somewhat more long-snouted form of CW49, which is more likely to belong to the genus Brochis in the sense currently used. As far as we know, this form has not yet received its own CW number. It appears to be very rare in the trade.
We can currently offer offspring of round-snouted (i.e. normal) CW49.
For our customers: Wild-caught CW49 have code 240194, offspring 240199 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
