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.

This species is a relatively recent addition to the hobby but considering the number of specimens allowed to be collected for scientific research is highly restricted by the Taiwanese Council for Agriculture it seems odd that it's become available at all. Indeed it appears that those in the trade are collected and exported on an illegal basis (T-Y Liao, pers. comm.)…

This species appeared in the trade during 2010 and its identity has been confirmed to us by Thai exporter and aquarist Kamphol Udomritthiruj who collects it from the Se Kong system for the aquarium hobby. To date only subadult specimens have reached the western market.

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…

This fish first became available in early 2009 and was initially identified as S. breviventralis (Freyhof and Serov, 2000).

However it cannot be that species because there is no discernible gap between pelvic and anal fins, which also discounts the possibility of it being S. elongata (Roberts, 1998). It therefore remains unidentified and is often imported in mixed batches with S. sp. ‘SEW02’, which it also resembles closely.

This fish has thus far only been imported among shipments of S. sp. ‘SEW02’ and S. sp. ‘SEW03’. It doesn’t appear to correspond to any known member of the genus and may be undescribed.

Prior to the mid-1990s S. lineolata was the only species in the genus but an upturn in surveys of fresh water fauna in Vietnam and Laos has resulted in the discovery of various new taxa, several of which remain undescribed.

This is one of the more readily-available members of the genus and popularly referred to as S. sp. 'spotted' or S. sp. 'special'. It's superficially similar in appearance to S. albisuera but in that species body patterning consists of a network of irregular dark lines forming a complicated series of reticulations vs. many small, light spots on a dark background in S. sp. 'SEW01'.

It's been suggested that these two may represent the same species but this…

This species first became available in early 2009 and was initially identified as S. breviventralis (Freyhof and Serov, 2000) because there is a clear space between the pelvic and anal fins and body patterning is vaguely similar to that species, and also appears quite similar to S. elongata (Roberts, 1998) and S. sp. ‘SEW03’.

It does not fully match the original descriptions of either, however, and therefore remains in need of identification.

S. lineolata was first recorded by Diard over 150 years prior to its 'rediscovery' in the early-1990s. It became available to the aquarium trade in the mid-2000s and swiftly established itself as one of the more popular balitorids in the hobby due to its attractive body markings and ease of breeding. It's also sold under the names 'reticulated hillstream loach', 'Vietnamese hillstream loach' and 'gold ring butterfly sucker'.

It's difficult to…

This species first became available in early 2010 and sometimes appears on trade lists under the vernacular names 'Laos sucker' or 'Laos Sakura sucker'.

It's distinguishable from other members of the genus by the following combination of characters: body spotted and without stripes; no concentric bands on paired fins; origin of pelvic-fin below origin of dorsal-fin; origin of pectoral-fin posterior to corner of mouth; pelvic fin reaching origin of anal fin; small elevated …