The genus Barbonymus was erected by Kottelat in 1999 and contains former members of Barbodes from southeast Asia. The type species is B. schwanenfeldii and currently there exist only three other representatives; B. altus, B. collingwoodii and B. gonionotus.

The latter two are rare in the hobby although an SF member has kept B. gonionotus in the past so they are worth looking out for if you harbour an…

The genus Microdevario was raised by Fang et al. (2009) after phylogenetic analyses revealed that some species formerly included in Microrasbora to be more closely allied with Devario and in need of reclassification. Microdevario is largely separated from Devario and other closely related genera such as Chela and Laubuca by virtue of internal characters but also the following: small adult size; anal and dorsal fins with concave-shaped distal margin; absence of barbels; absence of perforated scales; 9-10 branched anal-fin rays; 7 branched dorsal-fin rays; less abdominal than caudal vertebrae.

This species may have appeared in the aquarium trade under the misapplied names Puntius arulius or P. tambraparniei in the past, both of which are also now classified within Dawkinsia. See the relevant profiles for D. arulius and D. tambraparniei for additional information regarding that confusion, since here we concentrate on D. rubrotinctus.

It was initially described by Jerdon in 1849 but placed in synonymy with P. arulius by Day (1878), where it remained for ov…

This species is diagnosable from other members of the genus primarily by its unique colour pattern which consists of 7-11 dark blue, irregularly-shaped, parallel vertical bars on the anterior portion of each flank plus a short horizontal stripe on the caudal peduncle which extends into the central caudal fin rays. Phylogenetic analyses suggest it’s most closely-related to Indian Devario spp. plus D. xyrops from the western slope of the Rakhine Yoma mountains in Myanmar (Fang et al., 2009; Fang and Kullander, 2009).

It can be further distinguished from other species in the genus by colour pattern consisting of a dark, horizontal P stripe originating around mid-body, where it’s relatively faint, this becoming thicker and darker in the posterior portion of the body and terminating at the base of the caudal-fin. Among congeners it’s most similar to D. chrysotaeniatus but that species lacks the infraorbital process, has three rows of pharyngeal teeth and the P stripe extends to the end of the caudal-fin rays.

The habitat near Hopong is an area of permanently-flooded grassland formed by the damming of a spring for agricultural purposes and is around 1,040 metres AMSL.

The water is only around 30cm deep, transparent and supports dense growths of aquatic plants, mostly from the family Hydrocharitaceae which includes such genera as Elodea, Egeria and Blyxa.

This species has mostly been collected from small (1-2 metres wide, 20-40 cm deep), moderate-to-swiftly-flowing streams with clear water, substrates of sand, gravel and rocks and no aquatic vegetation. Marginal vegetation was present in some cases, offering a degree of shade, and sympatric species included an unidentified Schistura sp., S. vinciguerrae, Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, Garra qiaojiensis,…

This species is poorly known and first appeared in the hobby during 2005 but has rarely been seen since, probably because its natural waters lie outside the range of most commercial collectors.

It can be distinguished by a combination of characters including: lateral line complete; infraorbital process absent; two pairs of short barbels; 8-9 branched dorsal fin rays; 12-13 branched anal fin rays; P stripe originating above pelvic fin and extending to en…

The type series was collected during the dry season from localities with varying gradient both within the Nam Leuk mainstream and smaller tributaries. In the tributaries the fish were found congregating in pools some of which were isolated on steep slopes. All habitats above Tad Leuk falls were characterised by clear to very clear water under forest cover while below the falls they were dominated by exposed basalt slabs with some underground water channels.

Described from Manipur state, northeastern India and also known from neighbouring Nagaland state. In the original description Hora refers to it as ‘widely-distributed’ in the region but during an assessment conducted by the IUCN in 2010 it was recorded only from a handful of localities and restricted to an area of less than 15,000 square kilometres. Most habitats lie within the Manipur river basin, including the tributary Iril and Khuga drainages, and the Di…