Corydoras iiap: how big does it get?

Up to 6 cm standard length (SL).

Corydoras iiap: what water temperature does it need?

The atlas records 25–27 °C for this species.

Corydoras · armoured catfish

Corydoras iiap

Tencatt, Ruiz-Tafur & Chuctaya, 2024

2 cited sourcesName checked against Eschmeyer’s Catalog of Fishes, update of 21 Sep 2026

IUCNNOT EVALUATED

NEnot on the EX–LC scale

CARESNOT LISTED

EWCRENVUNTnot on the priority list

Type localityQuebrada Paujil, Iquitos-Nauta road km 26.4, lower Río Nanay drainage, upper Río Amazonas basin, San Juan Bautista District, Maynas Province, Loreto District, Peru, 03°57'49"S, 73°25'02"Wper Catalog of Fishes

Genus type speciesCorydoras geoffroyLacepède 1803

Scientific size2.5 in6 cm standard length

Temperature77–81 °F25–27 °C

pH5.4–6.3soft / slightly acidic

Depth—not recorded

DietBottom-feeding omnivore, as is typical of corydoradines

BreedingNot recorded for this species

Sexual dimorphismNot documentedNot recorded for this species

PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

For the aquarist

Replicate this biotopei

Target water

Temperature77.0–80.6 °F

pH5.4–6.3slightly acidic

Recommended tank

Standard aquarium20-gallon “long”30 × 12 × 13 in · 20 gal (76 L) · for a group of six or more

Aquascape & setup

Soft, acidic, mineral-poor water — often tannin-stained — like the shaded forest streams and blackwater tributaries it comes from. Keep it gently filtered and stable; that matters far more than hitting an exact pH.

A dark, fine-sand bed, branchy driftwood, root tangles and a generous layer of leaf litter recreate a shaded forest stream. Botanicals tint and soften the water naturally and floating plants cut the light to the dim levels these fish prefer — but keep open sand for foraging.

Community & care

Corydoras are shoaling fish — keep six or more of the same species; a lone or paired cory is a stressed one. They are utterly peaceful bottom-dwellers and belong only with calm, similarly-sized community fish — small tetras, rasboras, pencilfish, dwarf cichlids and the like — never with anything large or boisterous enough to bully a slow-moving fish working the floor.

Hybridization watchi

Soft sand, not graveli

Corydoras iiap is a small corydoradine catfish described in 2024 by Tencatt, Ruiz-Tafur and Chuctaya from Quebrada Paujil, near Iquitos in the lower Río Nanay drainage of Loreto, Peru. FishBase gives a maximum of 2.5 in SL, a temperature of 25 to 27 C and a pH of 5.4 to 6.3. The epithet is the acronym of the Peruvian Amazon research institute, IIAP.

What's in the name

Corydoras iiap — kor-ee-DOR-as EE-ap

Corydoras

korysGreek — helmet
dorasGreek — skin

Taxonomy & naming

Corydoras iiap was described by Tencatt, Ruiz-Tafur and Chuctaya in 2024. The type locality is Quebrada Paujil on the Iquitos-Nauta road at km 26.4, in the lower Río Nanay drainage. Under the 2024 revision of Corydoradinae most species formerly in Corydoras are placed in Hoplisoma in the Catalog of Fishes, and the atlas files this one under that lineage genus.

Morphology

Like other corydoradines, it is armoured with two rows of bony plates along the flank, has barbels at the mouth corners and a spine in the dorsal and pectoral fins. FishBase gives a maximum of 2.5 in SL. The colour pattern is described in the original description.

Habitat

The type locality is a small forest stream (quebrada) near Iquitos in the Peruvian Amazon, a region of black-water and clear-water creeks with leaf litter and sandy bottoms. FishBase lists the species as freshwater and demersal, with a pH of 5.4 to 6.3 and 25 to 27 C, and gives a collection depth of about 3 ft.

Feeding

Corydoradines are bottom-feeding omnivores. The diet of this species has not been studied specifically.

Mating

Courtship has not been described for this species.

Breeding

Spawning has not been described, in the wild or in captivity.

In the aquarium

Husbandry has not been documented for this species. Corydoradines as a group are social and are best kept in groups on a soft, sandy floor. The FishBase values of 25 to 27 C and pH 5.4 to 6.3 describe the water at the collection site and are a sensible target for soft, acidic water.

Conservation

Corydoras iiap has not been assessed by the IUCN. It is known only from the lower Río Nanay area of Peru, so it should be treated as a locally restricted fish with an undocumented status. Wild-collected animals in the trade should be viewed with that in mind.

Common questions

Corydoras iiap: how big does it get?: Up to 2.5 in standard length (SL).
Corydoras iiap: what water temperature does it need?: The atlas records 77–81 °F for this species.
Corydoras iiap: what water chemistry suits it?: pH 5.4–6.3.
Corydoras iiap: where does it come from?: It is recorded from Peru.

Biotope tank mates

Atlas fish recorded from the same waters, whose recorded temperature and pH ranges overlap this one’s and whose adults are within twice its size. A shortlist to research, not a stocking plan: temperament, territory and diet are not checked. Other genera only; this genus is compared below.

Flag acaraLaetacara curviceps
Shares Amazonas Lowlands · ranges overlap 77–81 °F, pH 5.4–6.3 · adults 2.5 in SL
Rainbow dwarf cichlidApistogramma ortegai
Shares Amazonas Lowlands · ranges overlap 77–81 °F, pH 5.4–6.3 · adults 2 in SL
Black stripe dwarf cichlidTaeniacara candidi
Shares Amazonas Lowlands · ranges overlap 77–81 °F, pH 5.4–6.3 · adults 2 in TL
Emerald coryBrochis splendens
Shares Amazonas Lowlands · ranges overlap 77–81 °F, pH 5.4–6.3 · adults 3 in TL
Fairy cichlidBiotoecus opercularis
Shares Amazonas Lowlands · ranges overlap 77–81 °F, pH 5.4–6.3 · adults 1.5 in SL
Cupid CichlidBiotodoma cupido
Shares Amazonas Lowlands · ranges overlap 77–81 °F, pH 5.4–6.3 · adults 4.5 in SL

Related species compared · Corydoras

Species	Adult size	Temperature	pH	Hardness	IUCN
Corydoras iiapthis species	2.5 in SL	77–81 °F	pH 5.4–6.3	—	NE
Imitator coryCorydoras imitator	2.5 in TL	72–79 °F	pH 5.5–7	up to 214 ppm	LC
Peru black coryCorydoras semiaquilus	2.5 in SL	72–79 °F	pH 6–8	36–446 ppm	LC
Leopard coryCorydoras leopardus	2.5 in SL	72–77 °F	pH 6–8	up to 446 ppm	LC
Reticulated coryCorydoras reticulatus	2.5 in SL	72–79 °F	pH 6–8	36–446 ppm	LC
Rabbit coryCorydoras orphnopterus	2.5 in SL	68–75 °F	pH 6–8	36–446 ppm	LC
Hermit coryCorydoras coriatae	2.5 in SL	72–79 °F	pH 6–8	up to 446 ppm	LC
Fowler's coryCorydoras fowleri	2.5 in TL	70–75 °F	pH 6–7.2	up to 214 ppm	LC
Long-nosed smudge spot coryCorydoras ourastigma	2.5 in SL	75–79 °F	pH 6–7.2	up to 268 ppm	NE
Rust coryCorydoras rabauti	2.5 in SL	72–81 °F	pH 5.5–7.2	up to 268 ppm	NE
Sawtooth coryCorydoras serratus	2.5 in SL	73–81 °F	pH 5–7	up to 143 ppm	NE
Sail coryHoplisoma armatum	2.5 in SL	72–79 °F	pH 6–8	up to 446 ppm	LC

Recorded ranges from each species’ own page; hardness is the tolerance its sources give, not a measurement of the water it lives in. See all 197 Corydoras species →

Also from the Amazonas Lowlands

Sources

Naming authority: Corydoras iiap in Eschmeyer’s Catalog of Fishes ↗

Last reviewed 2026-10-05.

How to cite

Aquarist Atlas (2026). Corydoras iiap. Aquarist Atlas.https://www.aquaristatlas.com/corydoras/corydoras-iiap/

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