The dwarfish catfishes of the genus Otocinclus are usually kept due to their algae-eating activities and their nice behaviour. The coloration of most of the species is only rather dull. Otocinclus are very famous for cleaning especially the waterplants without hurting them.
Could it be that there exists a species that is not only very useful, but also beautiful? Yes, there is! Otocinclus cocama, the zebra otocinclus, has both: all the positive aspects of its congeneers and a very attractive pattern. Regarding care, the up to 4 cm long fish is as undemanding as all other Otocinclus. Another unique aspect in O. cocama is the fact that all specimens have an individual pattern.
Males become larger than the females and when spotted from top the females are much more heavily built. Otocinclus spawn in the same way as Corydoras do, eg they scatter the eggs on the environment or the glasses of the tank, most often at the place where the filtered water flows back in the tank. Otocinclus do not take care for their brood.
For our customers: Otocinclus cocama has code 274155 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Lexicon: Otocinclus: ancient Greek, means “with latticed ear”; referring to a bone in the skull, which is visible externally and placed where in humans would be the ear; this bone has a latticed structure. cocama: “named after the Cocama-Cocamilla Indians that used to be dominant in the lower Ucayali and Marañon rivers….During the last century, the Cocama culture has been mostly assimilated by the regional society, losing their language and identity, being thus threatened as a group.” (Reis, 2004).
Common name: Zebra otocinclus
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
| Angaben zum Tier | |
|---|---|
| Herkunft | Peru |
| Verfügbare Größe in cm | 3-4 |
