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In much of the literature this species is pictured with the invalid name R. paviei, due to an issue with spelling which was corrected by Kottelat (2005), and the common name 'sidestripe rasbora' although the latter has yet to find popularity in the aquarium hobby. There are a number of similar-looking species including R. sumatrana, R. hobelmani and R. laticlavia and it can be problematic to separate members of this 'group'. If the collection locality of the fish is known ide...

This species is rarely seen in the trade and little has been written regarding its captive care. It's possible that several colour forms may exist depending on collection locality. 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 b...

R. rubrodorsalis occurs sympatrically with the very similar-looking R. borapetensis over some of its natural range but is much the rarer of the two in the aquarium hobby. They are easily distinguishable from one another because R. rubrodorsalis has a bright red blotch in thewhilst in R. borapetensis the dorsal is colourless and only the base of the is coloured red. This species is sometimes sold under the erroneous name(s) R. beauforti or R. sp. cf. beauforti, probably because it was picture...

R. sarawakensis is poorly-documented in the aquarium literature and we're not even sure if it has been exported for the hobby although it may be worth looking out for among shipments of wild fish from southern/western Borneo. We find this a little odd as it is an attractive, very peaceful little fish that would suit many home aquaria and is apparently quite common across its natural range. Rainboth's 'Fishes of the Cambodian Mekong' characterised members of Rasbora by poss...

Type locality is 'Central Sumatra, Indonesia', with additional records existing from Cambodia (Mekong drainage), Peninsular Malaysia (Perak River), Sumatra (from the Siak River, Riau province to the Musi River, South Sumatra (Sumatera Selatan) province) and Borneo (south and westwards from the Belait river basin in Brunei Darussalam to the Sambas drainage in West Kalimantan (Kalimantan Barat) province, Indonesia and probably in Sarawak, Malaysia).

This popular species is also known as the 'three-lined' rasbora and provided a large enough tank is available it is an excellent choice for those new to the hobby. The 'scissortail' moniker is derived from the characteristic twitching motion of the when the fish is at rest. It can be distinguished from the similar R. caudimaculata by lacking red colouration in the and from R. spilocerca by its much larger size. Several geographical forms appear to exist as some wild populatio...

This species was described in 1999 and may still occasionally be seen on sale under the incorrect names R. reticulata or R. cf. reticulata as well as the trade name 'volcano rasbora'. The real reticulata is endemic to the small island of Nias which lies off Sumatra's northwestern coast and is virtually inaccessible to fish collectors so is unlikely to be in the hobby although it may have been exported on a couple of occasions. It's a deeper-bodied fish and does not exhibit th...

These are still regarded as valid by some authorities although it's widely accepted that they represent variants of R. vaterifloris due to a lack of type material hindering conclusive study. Rasboroides nigromarginata (Meinken, 1956) has also been used to refer to a reddish form in which males differ from other populations in possessing dark fin margins, but the name is currently considered synonymous with R. vaterifloris by most sources despite the fish being rediscovered in 2010.

This miniature look-a-like of the popular Rasbora trilineata is rarely seen in the aquatic hobby, probably as a result of its relatively plain patterning and rather delicate nature. However if a group is well looked-after they will exhibit some interesting behaviour and surprising colour. As it also makes an ideal resident of the ornamental planted aquaria that are currently so popular in the hobby we'd love to see it become more widely-available. The genus is currently monotypic and dis...

A rarely seen species in the hobby due to its deep water lifestyle and the associated difficulties with collecting it.

Known only from affluents within the upper rio Tocantins basin draining into the enormous Serra da Mesa hydroelectric reservoir in Goiás state, Brazil. It has been collected from the rios Maranhão, das Almas, Traíras, and Palmerinha/Palmeira(?). Type locality is 'Brazil, Goiás, Rio Tocantins basin, Rio das Almas, tributary of left margin of Rio Maranhão, 14˚37′51.2″S, 49˚1′56.6″W'.

Retroculus spp. are unsuitable for the standard community aquarium, and should be maintained in a set-up designed to resemble a flowing river. The substrate should be composed of soft sand mixed with small pebbles if the aim is to breed the fish (see 'Reproduction'). Rocks, boulders, roots, branches, and aquatic plants can also be added, although the la...

The precise extent of this species' range is unclear. The majority of records pertain to the lower rio Xingu basin in the state of Pará, northern Brazil, including middle and lower reaches of its major tributary the rio Iriri, although the type locality is in Mato Grosso state several hundred kilometres upstream. There also exist a handful of records from the rio Jamanxim (a major affluent of the rio Tapajós which drain...

R. vulpinus is the most widely-distributed member of the family Cynodontidae. Type locality is given simply as 'Brazilian rivers', but this species is currently understood to be distributed in the Amazon basin from the Río Ucayali system in Peru, eastward as far as the rio Xingu in Brazil, plus the rio Tocantins and Rio Capim basins. It's also known from the Río Orinoco ba...

At present there's not a great deal of information available regarding this species. It seems to be fairly easy to keep, and makes a good addition to larger community tanks.

At present there's not a great deal of information available regarding this species. It seems to be fairly easy to keep, and makes a nice, unusual addition to larger community tanks.

This species is normally imported alongside a smaller-growing, near-identical congener currently listed as R. cf. nantaiensis with both traded as R. candidianus. They can be separated by snout length, which is noticeably longer in R. candidianus, and adult size with R. cf. nantaiensis reaching just 50-55 mm. R. candidianus can be distinguished from other congeners by a combination of cha...

This species has been exported for the ornamental trade but often labelled as the congener R. mekongianus. Although the two do appear relatively similar R. chiengmaiensis can be identified by a combination of external characters including: presence of 5 irregular dark markings on the body (vs. 7-8 i...

Very few details exist but the type locality is given as 'Yangso, Li Kiang, Kwangsi Province, southern China', which should correspond to an unspecified location within the Li River (Li Jiang) system in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China. The specimens in our images were collected i...

In addition, there appear to exist two colour forms based on male dorsal-fin morphology and patterning; one in which the 4th ray of the first dorsal-fin is longest with a square bluish-black blotch on the anterior ⅔ of the fin, and a second in which the 2nd and 3rd rays of the first dorsal-fin are longest with the fin itself paler and lacking dark markings.