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Origin: South-America, Brazil Rio Negro tributary.

Etymology: Named after Dr. Han Nijssen, a Dutch ichthyologist.

Synonyms:None.

First import:Unk.

Description: Although they can get reasonably large, they should be seen as dwarf corydoras, since their behaviour more resembles that of dwarf corydoras, and the body shape is similar. Depending on mood and environment the colored regions vary. A bery broad dorsal stripe, and an light orange blotch at the base of the head. Fins transparent. Black mask from the eye up. Older fish get small spots on the sides.

Care: A 40 cm tank with good filtration, although no strong current is neccessary for the animals well-being. They like soft acidic water and not too high temperatures. Delicate fish, that need some attention. Keep the water clean(frequent waterchanges) and don't keep them in hard water. Easily scared fish, that are hardly seen, since they mostly hide in caves and between plants. During the day not much swimming and foraging takes place.

Temperature:21-25 degrees.

Feeding: You will have to overfeed the other fish in a community tank for them to get some food.

Size: Males 3.5, females 5.0 cm

pH: 6.0-7.0 Hardness: 2-12

Breeding: Low pH water, very soft, little light. Feed lots of live food(artemia, daphnia, mosquitolarvae) for one or two weeks. Do a 30-40% waterchange with aged water which should reduce the watertemperature 5 degrees or more, temperatures of 17-18 degrees since the fish are quite delicate . Do this every other day for a period, until they start to breed. Not too large eggs are produced.

Sexual dimorphism: Males are much shorter and smaller than the females.

Prices: Netherlands 5€

Additional: Rarely seen in shops.

Picture references:No picture available

References:Lambourne, D. ((1995): Corydoras catfish, An Aquarist's Handbook. Blandford, London, UK.