Emerald catfish

Species of fish

The emerald catfish (Corydoras splendens) is a tropical freshwater fish belonging to the Corydoradinae sub family of the family Callichthyidae native to the Amazon Basin in South America. It has traditionally been known as Brochis splendens.

It was originally described as Callichthys splendens by François Louis de la Porte, comte de Castelnau in 1855. This species was once also commonly called Brochis coeruleus. W. A. Gosline was the first to suspect that the two species were the same in 1940, but it was actually Njiseen & Isbrücker, in 1970, who combined the two, giving sufficient reasons for doing so. The species would be described as Brochis splendens, until most of the catfish formerly classified as Brochis were re classified into Corydoras. The current recognized classification is thus Corydoras splendens. Feeding is not difficult and they accept almost anything, although live worms are especially appreciated. Spawning has been achieved in captivity. Typically, the fish are separated into a breeding tank in the ratio of three males to two females, all well conditioned on live foods. The couple will spawn while sitting on the bottom, not while swimming as many similar species do. In captivity, the female collects the eggs in her pelvic fin basket and pastes them individually to plants and other objects. Eggs will be deposited by the female throughout the tank, but especially on any floating surface plants. According to most reports, the parents do not immediately try to eat the eggs. The eggs hatch in about four days and the fry become free swimming two days later.