It is very similar to H. wetmorei but can be told apart by possessing yellow (vs. orange to red in H. wetmorei) pectoral, pelvic, and anal fins. It thus appears likely that yellow-finned fish marketed as H. wetmorei or ‘lemon fin barb’ in the ornamental trade are actually H. vernayi, with both species available on a regular basis.

Endemic to the Salween river system in Yunnan province, southern China, eastern Myanmar, and northwestern Thailand.

Type locality is ‘Salween River midway between Mae Sam Laep and Paleh, Mae Hong Son province, Thailand.’

A predominantly riverine fish preferring clear, well-oxygenated, running waters with substrates of sand, gravel, rock or mud, where adults tend to form schools just above the substrate in slower-moving sections.

This species can be distinguished from other members of the genus by the following combination of characters: absence of dark spots on body in adults; body elongate with slightly convex dorsal profile; head longer than body is deep; snout much longer than postorbital head length; lips well developed, lateral lobes of lower lip broad and thick with folds, median process small; barbel thickness shorter or equal to eye diameter; dorsal spine strong, ⅔ of HL; dorsal-fin origin closer to tip of snout than caudal-fin base base; 15+ gill rakers; 6½ branched anal-fin rays; posterior simple dorsal-fin rays ossified and spinous.

Widepread in eastern Asia between the Yangtze and Amur river basins, including China (mainland and islands of Taiwan and Hainan), Korea, Mongolia, Russia, and Japan. It probably been introduced to Vietnam and Laos, or records from these countries represent another species.

G. salweenica can be distinguished from other congeners inhabiting the Salween watershed by the following combinatuion of characters: body brownish; presence of a trilobed proboscis on the snout; snout blunt; a series of black spots at the base of the central dorsal-fin rays; presence of longitudinal stripes on the posterior portion of the body; a dark marking at the tip of the upper (and lower in some specimens) caudal-fin lobe; body depth 22.4-25.3 % SL.

G. qiaojiensis can be differentiated from closely-related congeners by the configuration of its proboscis, which is quadrate (1.6-1.8 times wider than long), reflected downwards against the snout and heavily tuberculated anteriorly, and the relative size of its mental disc which measures 48.7-55.9 % HL.

Among other Garra species from Southeast Asia and China, G. orientalis is most similar to G. salweenica and G. fuliginosa in that all three possess a roughly triangular, trilobed proboscis on the snout, the anterior margin of which is densely tuberculated, and the inferior margin not in contact with the depressed rostral surface, i.e., the proboscis projects forwards.

G. notata is one of a number of congeners to lack both a transverse groove and a proboscis on the snout. It also possesses 33-34 lateral line scales and a series of dark spots at the base of the dorsal-fin rays, and lacks scales on the lower portion of the body and abdomen.

The genus Garra is a particularly enigmatic grouping with new taxa…

This species is characterised by possession of a transverse groove on the snout, directly in front of the eyes, and a bifurcate proboscis with a conical keratinised tubercle at each anterior tip.