Brochis is a genus of freshwater

Freshwater

Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...

 catfish

Catfish

Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...

 in the Corydoradinae sub-family of the Callichthyidae

Callichthyidae

Callichthyidae is a family of catfishes , called armored catfishes due to the two rows of bony plates running down the length of the body. This family contains some of the most popular freshwater aquarium fish, such as the Corydoras.-Taxonomy:The family derives its name from the Greek words kallis...

 family in order Siluriformes. The type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 is the emerald catfish, Brochis splendens. The name Brochis is derived from the Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 word "brogchia", meaning "throat" or "trachea".

These fish are often confused with members of the Corydoras

Corydoras

Members of the South American Corydoras genus are freshwater temperate and tropical catfish in the armored catfish family , and are commonly referred to as corydorases, cories, or cory catfish.-Taxonomy:...

genus. In fact, the fish commonly identified as the "emerald cory" is usually actually Brochis splendens. They can be told apart from Corydoras

Corydoras

Members of the South American Corydoras genus are freshwater temperate and tropical catfish in the armored catfish family , and are commonly referred to as corydorases, cories, or cory catfish.-Taxonomy:...

by the fact that Brochis has a deeper body and a higher number of dorsal fin

Dorsal fin

A dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of various unrelated marine and freshwater vertebrates, including most fishes, marine mammals , and the ichthyosaurs...

rays.

The subfamily Corydoradinae contains three genera, although the differences between each of the genera are not so great as to preclude some to consider them all the same genus.

In the aquarium

Brochis are peaceful and hardy fishes that live in schools on the bottom of the aquarium. They are undemanding aquarium fishes that attain a length of about 8 cm (3.2 in.). The tank should have only soft, fine bottom material. The tank should be heavily planted and decorated with driftwood or other objects to provide plenty of hiding places. Strong filtration and partial water changes (particularly from the bottom) are essential. They do well in community tanks and do not tear up the plants. They are considered more difficult to breed in captivity, with most reports happening in very low light.