Panda Corydoras Identification Guide

Key identification features

• Small, stocky, armor-plated catfish body typical of Corydoras, rarely over 2 inches (5 cm)
• Pale cream to pinkish-white base color
• Bold black band across the eye like a mask, giving the "panda" name
• Black patch at the base of the tail fin and a black blotch on the dorsal fin
• Rounded snout with two pairs of short barbels around a downturned mouth
• Paired pectoral fins each with a short locking spine

Common look-alikes

• Skunk Corydoras has a black stripe running the length of the back rather than isolated eye, dorsal, and tail markings.
• Salt and Pepper Corydoras (Corydoras habrosus) shows fine speckling over the body instead of the Panda's three distinct solid black patches.
• Juvenile Bronze Corydoras can look pale before coloring in, but lacks the crisp black eye mask and tail patch.

Where you'll see one

Native to cool, clear, fast-flowing tributaries of the upper Amazon basin in Peru, particularly around the Ucayali River, where it forages over fine sandy or gravel substrates in shaded, well-oxygenated water.