The elegant corydoras or elegant catfish, Corydoras elegans, is a tropical freshwater fish belonging to the Corydoradinae sub-family of the Callichthyidae family. It originates in inland waters in South America, and is found in the Upper Amazon River basin in Brazil, Colombia and Peru. It was described by Franz Steindachner in 1876. The specific epithet elegans means elegant. Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Phyla Subregnum Parazoa Porifera Subregnum Agnotozoa Placozoa Orthonectida Rhombozoa Subregnum Eumetazoa Radiata (unranked) Ctenophora Cnidaria Bilateria (unranked) Acoelomorpha Myxozoa Superphylum Deuterostomia Chordata Hemichordata Echinodermata Chaetognatha Superphylum Ecdysozoa Kinorhyncha Loricifera Priapulida Nematoda Nematomorpha Onychophora Tardigrada Arthropoda Superphylum Platyzoa Platyhelminthes Gastrotricha Rotifera Acanthocephala Gnathostomulida Micrognathozoa Cycliophora Superphylum Lophotrochozoa Sipuncula Nemertea Phoronida Bryozoa... {{{subdivision_ranks}}} See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Orders See text The Actinopterygii are the ray-finned fish. ... Families Akysidae Amblycipitidae Amphiliidae Ariidae Aspredinidae Astroblepidae Auchenipteridae Bagridae Callichthyidae Cetopsidae Chacidae Clariidae Claroteidae Cranoglanididae Diplomystidae Doradidae Hypophthalmidae Ictaluridae Loricariidae Malapteruridae Mochokidae Nematogenyidae Pangasiidae Parakysidae Pimelodidae Plotosidae Schilbeidae Scoloplacidae Siluridae Sisoridae Trichomycteridae Catfish (order Siluriformes) are a diverse group of fish. ... Genera Aspidoras Brochis Callichthys Corydoras Dianema Hoplosternum Lepthoplosternum Megalechis Scleromystax The family Callichthyidae hails from South America and contains some of the most popular freshwater aquarium fish such as the corydoras. ... Common Species Corydoras aeneus Corydoras metae Corydoras paleatus Corydoras panda Corydoras Sterbai Corydoras trilineatus Members of the South American Corydoras genus are popular freshwater aquarium catfish, and are commonly referred to as cory catfish or simply corys. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Franz Steindachner (November 11, 1834 - December 10, 1919) was an Austrian zoologist. ... 1876 (MDCCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... The tropics are the geographic region of the Earth centered on the equator and limited in latitude by the two tropics: the Tropic of Cancer in the north and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere. ... For the village on the Isle of Wight, see Freshwater, Isle of Wight. ... A giant grouper at the Georgia Aquarium Fish are aquatic vertebrates that are typically cold blooded, covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins. ... Genera Aspidoras Brochis Callichthys Corydoras Dianema Hoplosternum Lepthoplosternum Megalechis Scleromystax The family Callichthyidae hails from South America and contains some of the most popular freshwater aquarium fish such as the corydoras. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... A satellite image of the mouth of the Amazon River, looking south The Amazon River or River Amazon (Spanish: ; Portuguese: ) of South America is the most voluminous river on earth, having a greater total flow than the next six largest rivers combined. ... Franz Steindachner (November 11, 1834 - December 10, 1919) was an Austrian zoologist. ... 1876 (MDCCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

The fish's appearance is characterized by dark double longitudinal stripes. The dorsal fin is ornamented by a few gray dots, taking on an arching pattern in some individuals. The body has other gray and black markings on an olive background. Compared with other species of Corydoras, the body is not as tall in comparison to its length, and its eyes are set a bit lower. The fish will grow in length up to 2.0 inches (5.1 centimeters). Dorsal Fin of the Orca A dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of fishes, whales, dolphins and porpoises. ... Mid-19th century tool for converting between different standards of the inch An inch is an Imperial and U.S. customary unit of length. ... A centimetre (American spelling centimeter, symbol cm) is a unit of length that is equal to one hundredth of a metre, the current SI base unit of length. ...

It lives in a tropical climate in water with a 6.0 - 8.0 pH, a water hardness of 2 - 25 dGH, and a temperature range of 72 - 79 °F (22 - 26 °C). It feeds on worms, benthic crustaceans, insects, and plant matter. Though it lays eggs in dense vegetation, adults do not guard them. In captivity, the male is reportedly territorial during the prespawning activities while the female is usually hidden among the plant roots. Both sexes clean the underside of plant leaves. Eggs are fastened under the leaves and are also attached to roots of plants. The tropics are the geographic region of the Earth centered on the equator and limited in latitude by the two tropics: the Tropic of Cancer in the north and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere. ... . The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions. ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after the German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736), who proposed it in 1724. ... Celsius is, or relates to, the Celsius temperature scale. ... A worm is an elongated soft-bodied invertebrate animal. ... In marine geology and biology, benthos are the organisms and habitats of the sea floor; in freshwater biology they are the organisms and habitats of the bottoms of lakes, rivers, and creeks. ... Classes & Subclasses Branchiopoda Phyllopoda Sarsostraca Remipedia Cephalocarida Maxillopoda Thecostraca Tantulocarida Branchiura Pentastomida Mystacocarida Copepoda Ostracoda Myodocopa Podocopa Malacostraca Phyllocarida Hoplocarida Eumalacostraca The crustaceans (Crustacea) are a large group of arthropods (55,000 species), usually treated as a subphylum [1]. They include organisms such as lobsters, crabs, shrimp and barnacles. ... Orders See taxonomy Insects are invertebrates that are taxonomically referred to as the class Insecta. ... Divisions Green algae Chlorophyta Charophyta Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) †Rhyniophyta - rhyniophytes †Zosterophyllophyta - zosterophylls Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses †Trimerophytophyta - trimerophytes Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta...

In the aquarium

The elegant corydoras is of commercial importance in the aquarium trade industry. It tends to swim in the upper levels of the aquarium, instead of at the bottom as is common with most species of Corydoras, and does not seem to disturb the sediment as much.

See also

• List of freshwater aquarium fish species

A vast number of species of fish have been successfully kept in the home aquarium. ...

External links

• Photos at Fishbase

References

• "Corydoras elegans". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. March 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
• Dr. William T. Innes (1966). Exotic Aquarium Fishes, 19th Edition. Maywood, New Jersey: Metaframe Corporation, Division of Mattel, Inc., page 249.