Taxonomy & naming
Corydoras pulcher was described by Isbrücker and Nijssen in 1973 from the Rio Purus, north of Lábrea, in the Amazonas state of Brazil — coordinates near 7°20'S, 64°46'W, within the Amazon system, and still the type locality. The name is the Latin adjective pulcher, 'beautiful' or 'pretty,' hence the common name. For half a century it stood as Corydoras pulcher, one of the long-snouted species of the great armoured-catfish genus Corydoras Lacépède, 1803 (family Callichthyidae).
The genus had swollen past 170 species and was shown by molecular work not to be a single natural group. The 2024 revision by Dias, Tencatt and colleagues split it into several genera — Brochis, Hoplisoma, Gastrodermus, Osteogaster among them — and the Catalog of Fishes now lists this species in Brochis. Because Brochis is grammatically masculine and pulcher is an adjective that must agree in gender, the valid combination is rendered Brochis pulchra (Isbrücker & Nijssen 1973). The change is recent and not yet universally followed, and the trade still says 'Corydoras pulcher,' so we keep that heading while recording the new combination. The fish is frequently confused in the hobby with C. schwartzi and the undescribed 'C141,' which share its Purus range.
Morphology
The pretty cory is a comparatively large, long-snouted Corydoras, reaching roughly 2 in standard length in formal measurement and perhaps 3 in in total length for big aquarium specimens. The snout is long and pointed and the body fairly elongate, giving it a more streamlined look than the round-snouted community corys.
Its three signature features are well described by hobbyists who keep it: a long, conspicuously elongated and whitish first dorsal-fin spine that streams above the back; a long snout; and a bold longitudinal dark stripe running along the body — the longitudinal body pattern that distinguishes it from the blotched or spotted species of the same river. The ground colour is pale, the markings dark, and as in all corys the body is armoured with two rows of overlapping bony scutes rather than scales, with three pairs of barbels around the downturned mouth and stiff, mildly venomous spines in the dorsal and pectoral fins. Wild fish are notably lively, even pugnacious, when netted — they dart and dash against the glass, and can scrape their snouts in transport.
Habitat
Corydoras pulcher is known from the Rio Purus basin in Amazonas, Brazil — a large, sediment-laden whitewater-to-clearwater tributary of the Amazon in the country's west. It shares this drainage with several similar long-snouted and stripe-patterned corys, and the populations overlap, which is part of why the species is so often misidentified.
The Purus and its associated creeks are warm lowland waters, soft to moderately hard and slightly acidic to neutral. Aquarium-relevant figures reported for the species are cooler than for many corys — around 70–75 °F — with a pH band of roughly 6.0–8.0 and soft to moderately hard water (about 2–25 dH). Like the rest of the subfamily it is a facultative air-breather, surfacing to gulp air and absorb oxygen through a vascularised hindgut, which lets it cope with the warm, oxygen-poor backwaters of its range.
Feeding
Like all corys, the pretty cory is a benthic omnivore and detritivore. It forages over the bottom, driving its long snout and barbels into sand and leaf litter to taste out small invertebrates, worms, insect larvae, micro-crustaceans, fallen seeds and organic detritus, expelling cleaned substrate through the gills as it sifts. Its long snout suits probing into the substrate and around wood and roots. In the aquarium it readily takes sinking pellets and tablets, frozen and live bloodworm, blackworm and brine shrimp, and other sinking foods; as ever it should be fed deliberately rather than left to scavenge whatever its tankmates drop.
Mating
Corydoras are egg-laying shoalers with the conserved 'T-position' courtship and no pair bond, and the pretty cory conforms. A ripe female cleans a spawning site, the group becomes active, and a male presses crosswise against her head to form the characteristic T as she takes his milt; the eggs are clasped in a pelvic-fin basket, carried to the cleaned surface and pressed into place a few at a time until the chosen spots are dotted with sticky eggs. Detailed, species-specific spawning observations for pulcher are limited, but it follows the standard corydoradine sequence shared across the long-snouted species.
Breeding
Aquarium breeding of C. pulcher is not well documented — it is an uncommon, mostly wild-collected import rather than a commercially mass-bred staple — so most guidance is extrapolated from related long-snouted corys. Those species spawn in the typical manner: a cool, large water change simulating the rainy season triggers activity, adhesive eggs are laid in small batches on firm surfaces and the glass, and the adults provide no parental care and may eat the eggs, so a breeder removes the eggs or the parents. Fry hatch in a few days and take microworm, baby brine shrimp and powdered foods after the yolk sac is absorbed. A mature group, cool clean soft water and patience give the best chance; repeatable published spawning reports for pulcher specifically remain scarce.
In the aquarium
The pretty cory is a peaceful, shoaling fish that should be kept in groups of six or more — alone or in pairs it is stressed and reclusive. As a larger, active, long-snouted species it appreciates a roomy tank with a generous footprint (well over 23.5 in for a group) and open swimming area. Substrate is critical: soft sand or very fine, smooth, rounded gravel only, because the long snout it feeds with is precisely what coarse or sharp grit erodes and infects, producing the blunted faces of a poorly kept fish.
Water should be on the cooler side for a cory (about 70–75 °F), soft to moderately hard, slightly acidic to neutral, clean and well-oxygenated with gentle current and regular changes. It shows best over dark sand among wood, roots and leaf litter. It is peaceful with calm community fish — tetras, rasboras, dwarf cichlids — and should never be housed with anything large enough to bully it. Two standard cory cautions: the fin spines snag in nets (use a cup), and a badly stressed cory can release a skin toxin lethal in the confined volume of a bag, so move them carefully. Note too that wild-caught pulcher are energetic and can injure their snouts thrashing in bags during transport.
Conservation
Corydoras pulcher is assessed by the IUCN Red List as Least Concern (assessment dated 2018). It is restricted to the Rio Purus basin rather than spread across the continent, but within that range it is not considered threatened, and aquarium collection is modest. As with all western-Amazonian fishes, the broad pressures on the region — deforestation, agricultural expansion, run-off and habitat alteration along the Purus — bear on the shallow margins and creeks it inhabits, but the species itself is not presently flagged as at risk. Its relatively narrow distribution nonetheless means it merits closer monitoring than a widespread generalist.