Emerald catfish – All About Fish

New Fish Tank Tips: Realize that if you do things correctly, this can be a long-term commitment. Some fish species can live for a very long time if cared for properly.

Contents of this page belong to www.fishlookup.com The emerald catfish (Brochis splendens), emerald brochis, emerald cory, green catfish, or shortbody catfish is a tropical freshwater fish belonging to the Corydoradinae sub-family of the Callichthyidae family. The fish has appeared on a stamp in Brazil. Though this species is sometimes called the emerald cory, it is really not a corydoras catfish at all. It is in another genus of catfishes, Brochis. Brochis catfish can be distinguished from corydoras catfish by their longer dorsal fins with tall spiny first rays.

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.

This species has long been classified as Brochis splendens. However, Brochis has been synonymized with Corydoras.[1]

It originates in inland waters in South America, and is found in the upper reaches Amazon River basin.[2] This includes Ucayali River to Pucallpa, Ambiyacu River, and the area around Iquitos in the nations of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Depending upon the angle of lighting, the fish’s body reflects a metallic green, blue-green, or even a bluish color. The ventral area is yellowish with the pectoral, ventral, and anal fins yellowish and the dorsal, caudal, and adipose fins a transluscent brownish. The females are larger and more robust than the males, and have a more pinkish belly as opposed to the more yellowish one for the males. This fish can be distinguished from the green/bronze corydoras catfish by its usually larger size,more stout body, and more pointed snout.[tubepress mode=’tag’, tagValue=’Emerald catfish’]