Corydoras · armoured catfish

Corydoras sp. CW214

Undescribed form

CW214

IUCNNOT EVALUATED
NEnot on the EX–LC scale
CARESNOT LISTED
Depthnot recorded
DietPresumed benthic micro-omnivore (Corydoradinae); no species-specific data
BreedingUnknown; no captive records for this undescribed form
Sexual dimorphismMinimalNo dimorphism data published for this undescribed form
PhotographsSee photosGoogle Images →

Behind the label Corydoras sp. CW214 is an armoured catfish still waiting for a scientific name. It moves through the aquarium trade as CW214 — one of Ian Fuller's corydorasworld.com codes for identified but undescribed Corydoradinae — and falls in the Corydoras lineage. No firm collection locality has been published for it.

What's in the name

Corydoras sp. CW214kor-ee-DOR-as, code "CW214"

Corydoras
  • korysGreekhelmet — for the armoured, helmet-like head
  • dorasGreekskin / hide — i.e. armoured skin, the bony plates replacing scales
"CW214"
  • CW214catalog code (informal)a corydorasworld.com catalog number (Ian Fuller) assigned to this undescribed Corydoradinae form; it substitutes for a Latin epithet until the species is formally described

Taxonomy & naming

Corydoras sp. CW214 has no formal description. The code CW214 comes from Ian Fuller's corydorasworld.com CW-number system, which tags identified-but-undescribed Corydoradinae much as the L-number system tags undescribed plecos. Corydoras sensu stricto is the restricted genus retained after the 2024 revision for the elegans-group lineage. A CW number is provisional — once the fish is described and given a valid name, the code is retired. For now there is no describing author, type series, or Catalog of Fishes entry.

Morphology

No formal morphology has been published for CW214. No measured length has been formally published. It carries the usual Corydoradinae build — a short, deep body sheathed in two overlapping rows of bony plates, a downturned barbelled mouth for sifting the bottom, and locking dorsal and pectoral spines. Diagnostic counts and details wait on a scientific description, so any trade description should be read as provisional.

Habitat

What is known of where CW214 lives comes from the trade rather than the literature. Its precise wild range has not been documented. As a Corydoradinae it can be expected on soft-bottomed margins of Neotropical streams and rivers, but no measured habitat parameters — temperature, pH, flow — have been recorded for this form specifically.

Feeding

No diet study exists for CW214. Corydoradinae are bottom-grazing micro-omnivores that root through sand for small invertebrates, detritus, and anything edible that settles, and this form almost certainly does the same. In tanks, undescribed Corydoras forms take the standard cory fare of sinking foods and small frozen or live invertebrates.

Mating

No courtship or spawning has been documented for CW214 specifically. Corydoradinae generally spawn in the classic T-position, the female holding a small clutch of eggs in her cupped pelvic fins while the male fertilises them; whether this form has been bred at all is simply not on record.

Breeding

There are no captive-breeding records for CW214. Clutch size, where the eggs are laid, and how the fry develop are all undocumented for this undescribed form. Keepers who spawn related Corydoras forms lean on cool water changes as a trigger, but nothing specific has been reported here.

In the aquarium

Corydoras sp. CW214 turns up only as the odd wild import and mainly interests keepers who track Corydoradinae by their codes. Ordinary Corydoras care fits it — soft sand, clean well-oxygenated water, a shoal of six or more, and peaceful company. It is a wild fish, not a line-bred strain, so what circulates under the code is collected stock.

Conservation

Corydoras sp. CW214 has not been assessed by the IUCN Red List; as an undescribed form it has no formal status. With its range and numbers unrecorded, its real situation is unknown. Narrow-range Corydoradinae can be exposed to habitat change and collection pressure, which is reason enough to keep coded forms like this one on the radar.

Sources

  1. Corydoras World (Ian Fuller) — Corydoras sp. CW214 (CW-number registry)

Last reviewed 2026-07-04.

How to cite

Aquarist Atlas (2026). Corydoras sp. CW214. Aquarist Atlas.https://www.aquaristatlas.com/corydoras/corydoras-sp-cw214/

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