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Scientific Name Hoplisoma sterbai  Knaack, 1962
Common Names Sterba's Cory
Sterba's Pansermalle (Denmark), Sterba's Panzerwels (Germany)
Type Locality Rio Guaporé, Brazil.
Pronunciation hop lee so mah - ster bye
Etymology Specifically named in honour of Dr. Günther Sterba.
Hop to next section Species Information
Size 68mm or 2.7" SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification It is hard to misidentify this species but it can be confused with Corydoras haraldschultzi, although the latter is a long-nosed species where C. sterbai is the dome-headed form - the easiest way to tell them apart is that the Sterba's Cory has white spots on its head from eyes down to snout. C. haraldschultzi does not. Corydoras sterbai has is commercially bred in albino form.
Sexing Males are smaller and slimmer. Females grow larger and are much wider; most easily observed from above.
General Remarks In future, this species is likely to turn out to be new, and C. sterbai be a lineage 8 species rarely seen in the trade.
Hop to next section Habitat Information
Distribution South America: central Brazil and Bolivia.
Amazon, Middle Amazon (Solimoes), Madeira, Mamoré, Guaporé (Iténez) (click on these areas to find other species found there)

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IUCN Red List Category
Not Evaluated
pH 6.0 - 7.6
Temperature 24.0-28.0°C or 75.2-82.4°F (Show species within this range)
Other Parameters One species of Corydoras that does not seem to mind higher temperatures.
Hop to next section Husbandry Information
Feeding Readily accepts a wide variety of frozen and prepared foods in the aquarium. User data.
Furniture Shade provided by overhanging rock work, arching bogwood, tall or floating plants are all that is required. Ideally substrate should be sand, but rounded gravel will suffice.
Compatibility Peaceful. Tank raised fish are ideal first catfish for a beginner's community aquarium. Wild caught fish will tend to be more expensive and somewhat less hardy.
Suggested Tankmates Keep in a shoal of at least 6 individuals ideally with similarly sized tetras and dwarf cichlids. A good species for the discus aquarium.
Breeding See Shane's World article (link below). Tank-bred specimens that are frequently found in the shops appear relatively easy to breed, where wild-caught specimens are reported to be a bit more difficult.
Breeding Reports There is but a single breeding report, read it here.
Hop to next section Further Information
Reference Senckenbergiana Biologica v. 43 (no. 2), pp 131, Pl. 12 (figs. 2a-c).
Registered Keepers There are 6 registered keepers, view all "my fish" data.
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Spotters Spotted this species somewhere? Click the binoculars!
There are 12 records of this fish being seen, view them all.
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Hoplisoma sterbai QR code LFS label creator
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Last Update 2024 Jun 14 11:53 (species record created: 2001 May 04 00:00)