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This species is almost unheard of in the aquarium hobby outside of India but is maintained by some private collectors. It's distinguished from similar species by possessing a single pair of maxillary barbels, a relatively elongate body, and distinctive black spot above the anterior anal-fin base. The genus Puntius was for a number of years viewed as a polyphyletic catc...

This species is almost identical to the wild form of 'P.' semifasciolatus which is best known as the 'golden barb' in the aquarium hobby due to the popularity of a yellowish ornamental strain. The natural colour pattern is greenish in both species, however, and in terms of external characters they're only reliably distinguished by the fact that 'P.' semifasciolatus possesses a pair of prominent maxillary barbels wherea...

This species is uncommon in the aquarium trade which is a little surprising given its huge natural range. Different populations can vary in colour pattern to an extent though all share the defining aspects given by Hamilton, comprising a diffuse yellow-golden marking on the operculum plus a dark spot on the caudal peduncle. The latter is usually surrounded by a variably-sized golden-yellow margin, and the dorsal-fin often contains irregular dark spots and streaks, these sometimes forming a longitudinal band.

As of 2006 only 4.6% of the old forest was left with the remainder existing only in small, highly-fragmented patches, most covering areas less than 10 km², of which some are now officially-protected reserves. Kottawa Forest is one of these and comprises just 15-20 hectares of wet, evergreen jungle, though the combined Kottawa-Kombala forest covers around 1600 ha. A number of minor, pristine streams...

It can be told apart from similar-looking congeners such as P. crescentus and P. muzaffarpurensis by the following combination of characters: barbels absent; lateral line incomplete with up to 5 pored scales; 20-22 lateral line scales; 8 predorsal scales; dorsal-fin with a vertically-orientated black streak and a black tip with orange markings; a dark spot at the base of the caudal peduncle.

Has been recorded from major river channels, smaller tributaries, and floodplain lakes, many of which comprise acidic, mineral-poor blackwater environments with brownish, tannin-stained water, although it has been observed to inhabit clear waters as well. Many of its habitats lie within the Venezuelan and Colombian llanos, a vast, highly biodiverse system of tropical savannah grasslands, seasonally-flooded plains and forests covering an area measuring almost 600,000 square kilo...

Famed as a rapacious predator capable of rapidly stripping flesh from bone and a danger to any animal entering its native waters, P. nattereri is among the most notorious freshwater fishes in the world. As a result, displays featuring this “bloodthirsty” creature are found in most public aquaria, grisly Hollywood movies have been released, and the species has become popular in the aquarium trade. Little of this infamy is based on factual evidence, however.

Following Fink (1993), P. piraya can be distinguished from congeners by the following combination of characters: adipose fin with rays in larger specimens (vs. always without rays in other Pygocentrus species); branched dorsal-fin rays 15-18, usually 16 (vs. 14-18, usually 15); usually 7 neural spines anterior to first pterygiophore (vs. usually 6); vertebrae 36-39, usually 38 (vs. 35-38, usually 36). It can also be identified by colour pattern since it possesses distinctive bright yellow-orange pigmentation on the lower jaw, opercle and lateral body in life.

R. borapetensis is one of the more commonly-encountered rasboras in stores and is particularly recommended for newcomers to the hobby. While it can appear a little plain or 'washed' of colour when seen on sale once settled and in good condition it is an eye-catching little fish that often schools quite closely. It's sometimes sold with the alternative trade names of black-line or magnificent rasbora. R. rubrodorsalis is a very similar-looking congener that occurs sympatrically...

This striking species may also be seen on sale with the trade name of 'red scissortail'. It can be distinguished from the similar-looking R. trilineata by the presence of orange/red colouration in the with other diagnostic features including black tips to the caudal lobes, 11-12 predorsal scale rows and a dark reticulated pattern to the edges of the scales. The 'scissortail' moniker is derived from the characteristic twitching motion of the when the fish is at rest. Rainb...

This species is not often exported which is a shame as it makes an elegant, peaceful resident of the larger community tank. It can be easily distinguished from similar-looking congeners such as R. einthovenii and R. jacobsoni by examining the dark lateral stripe that extends lengthways along the body of the fish as in R. cephalotaenia it is composed of a series of dark spots whereas in the other species it forms a continous solid line. Rainboth's 'Fishes of the Cambodian Mekong&#039...

This fish may well be a form of R. dandia itself but in the absence of scientific confirmation we list it with a 'cf' abbreviation for the time being. It appears to be widely available in the trade but is often (mis)identified as R. wilpita, a species now confirmed as endemic to a small number of streams in Sri Lanka and which is probably much rarer in the hobby than previously thought. Valenciennes initially described Leuciscus dandia as a new species from Sri Lanka in 1844 but the...

Type locality is 'Mae Nam Huey Bon, kilometer 45 on road from Amphoe ThaWang Pha to Amphoe Chiang Kham, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand', and this species appears restricted to the Mekong and upper Chao Phraya river basins in northern Thailand and northern Laos. The specimens pictured here were collected from th...

The identity of this species was unclear for a number of decades prior to its redescription by Ng and Kottelat (2013). The confusion originated with Brittan (1954) who misidentified specimens of R. tornieri as R. dusonensis and was exacerbated by Alfred (1963) who concluded that the holotype of R. dusonensis was conspecific with R. myersi.

This is one of the more commonly-seen rasboras in the hobby and is ideal for the medium-sized community set-up. It shares some close similarities with R. jacobsoni but can be most easily identified by the fact it lacks dark reticulated scales above the lateral stripe. This stripe also has noticeably more uneven or "crinkly" edges in R. einthovenii than in R. jacobsoni or indeed any other species of laterally-striped Rasbora. A further distinguishing combination of characters for both t...

This species is not especially popular in the hobby and is only infrequently seen on sale. It is clearly distinguishable from similar-looking members of the genus by lacking a dark stripe along the lateral line. Instead it possesses two spot-like markings on each flank, one below theorigin and lateral line and another at the caudal peduncle. The intensity of these can vary depending on the collection locality of the fish and they can be quite faint in some forms. There is also a third, smaller m...

R. kalochroma exhibits variable patterning across its range according to locality with some forms possessing a line of spot-like markings connecting the two dark blotches on the flanks and others more intense body colouration. Juveniles are sometimes confused with Boraras maculatus and adults with the similarly-patterened R. elegans although the latter is easy to identify by its overall silver, as opposed to pinkish/reddish, colouration. The only congener for which it may be genuinely mistake...

It is unclear if this species has been available in the aquatic trade as collections from its native waters only occur sporadically, therefore we have based much of the information here on experience with its closest relative R. kalochroma. These two are almost identical in appearance and share some meristic features but R. kottelati possesses an additional, oval-shaped dark blotch on the caudal peduncle, lacks the stripe in the middle of the seen in R. kalochroma and is consequently easy to dis...

This species is also traded as 'Bornean redfin rasbora', 'sunshine rasbora' and 'dwarf volcano rasbora' and first appeared in the hobby during the latter part of 2010. It can be told apart from all other members of the genus by a combination of the following characters: possession of small tubercules on the dorsal surface, posterior to theand continuing onto the upper part of caudal fin, visible as an irregular 'crest' when a specimen is viewed laterally; ...

Rainboth's 'Fishes of the Cambodian Mekong' characterised members of Rasbora by possession of an unbranched, non-spiny firstray and seven soft dorsal rays, origin of thein the middle of the body, five branchedrays, a small mouth not extending below the eye and a lack of barbels. It's long been recognised as a polyphyletic lineage as noted by Kottelat (1999) amongst others, and in 2010 the results of a phylogenetic analysis by T. Y. Liao et al. suggested a number of changes in...