Micro Cory

About

The micro catfish (Corydoras hastatus) is one of the smallest members of an already compact genus, and it stands apart from most of its relatives in a rather unexpected way: instead of hugging the substrate, it spends much of its time swimming freely in midwater. This behavior is backed up by its body plan, which features a more terminal mouth, a larger eye, a more deeply forked tail, and a more symmetrical silhouette than the typical bottom-hugging cory. In the wild, across the Amazon and Paraguay River basins, it can form mixed-species schools with small characins that share a similar color pattern, a loose form of collective predator avoidance that plays out beautifully in a planted aquarium. The species is less commonly available in the trade than its close relatives, C. pygmaeus and C. habrosus, and is occasionally confused with the former. The key distinguishing mark is a dark, roughly diamond-shaped blotch on the caudal peduncle, something C. pygmaeus lacks. Like all callichthyids, it carries bony plates instead of scales, can surface to gulp atmospheric air through a specialized section of intestine, and has sharp pectoral spines worth respecting during handling. Keep it in groups of ten or more, choose tankmates carefully given its tiny adult size, and pair it with fine-leaved plants where it can school and feel secure.