This species is sometimes traded for aquaria but its name also appears to have been widely misapplied to other fishes.

It can be identified via the following combination of characters: presence of 8-10 quite regular dark bars…

Described from close to the village of Ban Khiri Wong, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, southern (peninsular) Thailand but since recorded throughout much of the country, including the Chao Phraya and Mekong river systems.

It’s also known from Peninsular Malaysia and parts of the Mekong basin in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Rainboth (1996) considered it ‘probably the commonest member of the genus in the Mekong’ and in a 2008 study of balitorid habitats in centra…