 C.
burgessi resembles Corydoras adolfoi and Corydoras
duplicareus in color scheme; noticeably possessing the bright
orange “cap” on the top of their head, just in front
of the dorsal fin and behind the eyes. This intense orange marking
resembles a bar or a teardrop of color rather than a patch of color
as in the others mentioned. They lack the “skunk stripe”
but do have a dark black mask concealing their eyes. There is also
a large black spot that fills most of the dorsal fin. This spot
also runs into the top of their silver/white body, just in front
of the orange “cap”. The body shape of C. burgessi,
with the high back and thick full body, reminds you of a Brochis
rather than a Corydoras catfish. Females are easy to distinguish
in adults by their fuller, plump bellies. Both male and females
can reach a good size, almost three inches in total length.
They aren’t timid at all, being very active swimmers that
even seem to “strut” as they move through the aquarium.
My thirty-five adult fish were received direct from Germany. I’m
assuming that they were all wild fish, being that they were fully
grown adults and knowing that they aren’t commonly bred or
mass- eggs sacs, the same size as the eggs, which takes almost three
days for the fry to absorb! I’d say the hatch rate was fifty
– sixty percent. Raising the fry presents no problems. First
foods added after their egg sac was absorbed were sponge filter
dirt, squeezed form a seasoned sponge filter, and microworms. Live
baby brine shrimp was added soon after. Fry grow rather quickly,
nearly an inch in ten weeks.
Since the first couple of spawns, I have observed several interesting
factors that I feel might help someone in spawning these striking
Corys. Importantly, I have found that they will deposit almost all
their eggs in a sunken yarn mop lying on the bottom of the tank
if offered. This provides a quick, easy way to remove the eggs by
simply removing the mop and it prevents the eggs from being damaged
while being handled. They don’t seem to bother with eggs in
the mop, but eggs deposited on the glass will usually be eaten during
the day. Also have found out that they prefer to spawn during the
daytime. I had a spawn of them one night, but it was a night that
I forgot to turn off the overhead lights in the fishroom. So artificial
light can act as daylight to encourage spawning. Many Corys are
triggered to spawn when storm fronts move into the area, but every
spawning I can think of with C. burgessi has been on mild,
pleasant days with calm weather. Their spawns aren’t very
large, usually numbering fifty to seventy eggs. I have noticed that
different females will spawn several days apart from each other
but I haven’t found a pattern as to why…yet!
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