Northern longnose cory

Corydoras septentrionalis

Also known as Septentrionalis cory, Northern long nose cory

FreshwaterFish

Northern longnose cory (Corydoras septentrionalis) — J-iSkELo · CC BY-SA 4.0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 75–82°F (24–28°C)
pH: 5.8–7.2
Adult size: 2.4 in (6 cm)
Minimum tank: 20 gal (75 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Shoaling
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: Hard
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Orinoco basin llanos drainages of Venezuela and Colombia
Family: Callichthyidae

Overview

A 75-liter tank with deep sand suits a shoal of six. It eats the standard sinking menu and frozen foods, nosing them out of the substrate. Breeding is documented but tricky, with the long-snout habit of tucking eggs low near the substrate. Venezuelan export gaps mean supply comes and goes by the year.

In the wild

This long-snouted cory lives in the Orinoco llanos, in warm sandy streams that flood wide in the wet season. It roots deep in soft bottoms for food. Keep it over a deep fine-sand bed with scattered wood at 24 to 28 degrees Celsius and pH 5.8 to 7.2.

Good to know

Gosline described Corydoras septentrionalis in 1940; the name simply means northern, for its Orinoco home at the top of the genus's range. It reaches about 6 centimeters and stays in strict-sense Corydoras under the 2024 revision. In the llanos it often swims alongside its mimic, the short-nosed Venezuelan cory.

Did you know

In its home streams a nearly identical short-nosed cory shoals with it, one of the mimic pairs that make cory identification a sport.

Tank mates

Northern longnose cory is a peaceful, shoaling species that keeps to the bottom. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.