Corydoras cochui

About

One of the smallest members of a very large genus, Corydoras cochui is a miniature armored catfish from the Upper Araguaia River basin in Brazil. Like all corydoras, its body is covered in rows of bony plates rather than scales. Hence the collective nickname 'armored' or 'mailed' catfish for the family Callichthyidae. At under an inch and a half fully grown, cochui is on the petite end even within this genus of mostly small fish. You can tell it apart from the similar-looking C. habrosus by counting the dark blotches along its flank: cochui typically shows four or five, while habrosus has just two or three. Behaviorally, these fish are classic corydoras. Peaceful, social, and most comfortable in a group of at least four to six individuals. Keep them in a decent-sized group and they'll spend their days foraging together along the bottom. One genuinely interesting trait: like other members of the genus, cochui is a facultative air breather, using a modified, highly vascularized section of intestine to extract oxygen from air gulped at the surface. A handy adaptation for oxygen-poor waters. A word of caution when netting or handling them: the pectoral spines are sharp enough to pierce skin, and gland secretions near the spine base may have mild venomous properties. Overall though, cochui is a rewarding and manageable choice for most freshwater setups.