Panda Corydoras

Looks how to spot one

Armoured catfish (bony plates, no scales)

A small, rounded catfish clad in bony plates, with short barbels for sifting sand. The body is off-white to soft pinkish-orange with a faint green sheen, set off by a black mask around each eye, a black patch on the dorsal fin and a black spot at the base of the tail, a pattern that recalls a giant panda. Females are a little larger and rounder.13

Personality what they are like

Exceptionally gentle and sociable. Pandas are shy alone but become confident, active and fun to watch in a group, rooting through the sand side by side.31

Daily activity how busy a day looks

Busy bottom foragers that also dart to the surface now and then to gulp air, so the surface must stay reachable. Open sandy areas let them sift for food naturally.342

Grooming and care the hands-on bits

Water: about 22 to 25 C (sources span 20 to 25 C as the preferred range), pH 6.0 to 7.4 per Seriously Fish (FishBase 6.0 to 8.0), hardness 1 to 12 dGH. Prefers slightly cooler, soft water. Keep the sand clean with regular partial water changes because they spend their lives on the bottom.321

Home where they are happiest

A tank of at least 45 x 30 x 30 cm (about 41 litres) for a small group, with fine smooth sand, some cover such as plants, wood or leaf litter, and gentle to moderate flow.3

Food basics what goes in the bowl

Omnivorous and easy to feed: a good sinking pellet or tablet as the staple, plus small live or frozen foods such as daphnia, brine shrimp or bloodworm.3

Company who they like around

A schooling fish that should never be kept alone; Seriously Fish advises groups, and Wikipedia suggests eight or more. Good with small, peaceful community fish.31

The story where it all began

Randolph H. Richards first collected the species in 1968, and Han Nijssen and Isaäc Isbrücker described it in 1971, naming it for its panda-like eye patches. It was very expensive when it reached the hobby in the late 1970s, but large-scale farming has since made it one of the most familiar corydoras.13

Recognised by the official bits

IUCN Red List

Near Threatened (assessed 24 April 2014)2

Taxonomy

Moved from Corydoras to the resurrected genus Hoplisoma after a 2025 phylogenomic study by Dias, Tencatt, Roxo and colleagues (Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society)5

Family

Callichthyidae (armoured catfishes)4