Genus · Plecos

Corumbataia

Corumbataia is a genus with 6 species in this atlas, catalogued in the Plecos section, recorded from Brazil. Adult sizes run from 1 in to 1.5 in. Every species below links to a full researched profile.

Species in atlas
6
Adult sizes
1–1.5 in
IUCN assessed
6 of 6 · 3 threatened
Recorded from
Brazil

About the genus

Corumbataia is a genus of miniature armored catfish in family Loricariidae, subfamily Hypoptopomatinae - the group of small suckermouth catfish that also includes the familiar Otocinclus. It is endemic to Brazil, and the six species the atlas covers are tiny even by that group's standards, running 1–1.5 in as adults. Like its hypoptopomatine relatives, Corumbataia has a flattened, armor-plated body and a ventral sucking mouth used to grip rock in flowing water, feeding on algae and biofilm scraped from stones and wood in the small streams it inhabits.

This is a genus of mostly scientific rather than aquarium interest - its species are small, cryptically marked stream-dwellers that rarely if ever reach the hobby trade, and named localities such as the Rio Tietê (source of the Tietê Cascudinho, C. cuestae) point to a distribution scattered across small, restricted Brazilian drainages rather than one large river system. The conservation picture is a concern for a genus this size: of the six species, one is assessed Critically Endangered and one Endangered, with a further Vulnerable species alongside three of Least Concern, suggesting real pressure on some of these narrow-range headwater habitats from damming, siltation, and land-use change.

IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered · 1 Endangered · 1 Vulnerable · 1 Least Concern · 3

The 6 species

Every Corumbataia recorded in this atlas. Each card links to a full researched profile — distribution, water parameters, and aquarium care, cited to primary sources.

Ferreira & Ribeiro, 2007

1 in SL · VU

Britski, 1997

Tietê Cascudinho

1.5 in SL · LC

Silva, Roxo, Souza & Oliveira, 2018

1 in SL · CR

Silva, Roxo, Souza & Oliveira, 2018

1 in SL · EN

Britski, 1997

1.5 in SL · LC

Carvalho, 2008

1.5 in SL · LC

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How to cite

Aquarist Atlas (2026). Genus Corumbataia. Aquarist Atlas. https://www.aquaristatlas.com/corumbataia/

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