From Colombia comes the pretty long-snouted Corydoras simulatus. There it lives in the same rivers – the Rio Meta and its tributaries – as the round-snouted Corydoras metae. Because the latter have been known for a long time already, the scientific describers of C. simulatus chose the species name “simulatus”, in the sense of “only apparently a metae”. Apart from the different head form, C. simulatus have other barbel structures than C. metae and a pattern in the tail fin, which C. metae always lacks.
In fact, many C. simulatus are colored like C. metae, but there is also a color variant with a dark wedge on the flank as C. metae never shows, and there are forms of C. simulatus that stand between these two extremes. From aquarium experience we know that all these colour variants of C. simulatus mate with each other and cross fertilely; they are therefore really only colour variants and not different species.
For our customers: C. simulatus has code 246504 on our stocklist, C. metae 236505. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
