Over the decades, we have often witnessed the rise of a new star in the ornamental fish sky. Among the armored catfish, this was undoubtedly Hoplisoma weitzmani, which went from being a sought-after phantom to a species that is now firmly established in the range.
Our first posts on this animal appeared in 2007: https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/10-catfishes/10a-catfishes-corydoras-co/corydoras_weitzmani_en/ and https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/10-catfishes/10a-catfishes-corydoras-co/corydoras_weitzmani_en-2/
The existence of this armored catfish was already in doubt, or it was believed that the animal was extinct, as the first scientific description from 1971 gave “Cuzco in Peru” as the type locality of the uniquely marked fish. However, several expeditions to the area around Cuzco were unsuccessful. Today we know that the first describer was given incorrect information. Hoplisoma weitzmani originates from the Madre de Dios region, where it was rediscovered by ornamental fish trappers in 2004. The Peruvian departments of Cuzco and Madre de Dios border each other; it is therefore possible that the first collector of the species meant the department, not the city, but this remains speculative.
Keeping this beautiful fish is very easy. They are sociable fish that should always be kept in a group. Earlier speculation that this armored catfish had to be kept cold (Cuzco is located in the Andes at an altitude of 3,400 m) is of course completely wrong. In fact, this species has no special requirements in terms of temperature or water composition. They are ideal armored catfish for a community aquarium.
Nowadays there are still wild-caught specimens from time to time (fortunately, as there were already fears of extinction in the wild due to the insane pollution of the biotope by gold miners), but captive-bred specimens reliably cover the main demand.
For our customers: the animals have code 248905 (wild) and 248912 (bred) on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Text & Photos: Frank Schäfer & Erwin Schraml
