Indragiri basin

This species is commonly-referred to as 'T-barb' in some countries. It's closely-affiliated with and sometimes traded as the congener B. kuchingensis but that species can be told apart by colour pattern comprising a prominent row of dark spots along the lateral line, plus a short, horizontally-orientated streak extending from the upper part of the operculum. In B. lateristriga the lateral markings usually form a solid stripe and there is no streak extending from the operculum.

The easiest way to distinguish these is by examining the throat markings, which vary according to species, and in the case of B. hipposideros form a black horse-shoe shape. It can also be separated from other group members by the following suite of characters: dark blotch on throat joined to black lower lip; presence of transverse bars in dorsal and caudal fins; absence of dark margin in anal-fin; opercle usually with gold scales, without iridescrent green scales; ventral margin of opercle brown; 6.5-7 subdorsal scales (mode 6.5); 9-10 postdorsal scales (mode 9.5); 31-32 lateral scales (mode 32).

It should be noted that not all authors consider the B. pugnax group to contain the same species, with some placed in the B. picta complex by Schindler and Schmidt (2006), for example. B. raja can be told apart from other members of the B. pugnax group by the following characters: mature males with very long pelvic fins covering 15-23 anal-fin rays or even longer than the base of the anal-fin in some cases; anal-fin and lower caudal-fin with black marginal bands; 25-28 anal-fin rays; 30-32 lat...

This species is included in the Betta waseri group/complex of closely-related species within the genus, an assemblage which also includes a handful of potentially new species such as B. sp. 'Medas' on an unofficial basis. Group members share the following combination of characters: base body colouration clay yellow; opercle scales iridescent gold in mature males of all species except B. tomi; throat with black markings which join with black lower jaw in some species; no chin bar.

This species is included in the B. bellica group/complex of closely-related species within the genus, an assemblage of which members share the following set of characters: long and slender body with dorsal and ventral margins almost parallel; body depth 23-28 % SL; 30-33 anal-fin rays; 11-13 dorsal-fin rays; 32-34 total vertebrae; body dark brown in colour with iridescent green markings on each individual scale.

This species is very rare in the trade and is normally imported only as bycatch among shipments of other fishes. It can be told apart from its well-known congener B. dorsiocellata by a combination of characters as follows: lateral line complete (25-30 pored scales vs. 4-9); more scales in the lateral row (29-32 vs. 25-27); larger adult siz...

This species is arguably one of the most misunderstood in the hobby since it's wholly unsuitable for smaller aquaria despite its ubiquitous availability. Most retailers sell it without providing what should be considered essential information regarding long-term care and most specimens undoubtedly fail to reach their potential in captivity. The purchase of a group is also a considerable investment given that if properly cared for typical life span is in excess...

The type series was purchased from a market in Jambi province, eastern Sumatra, Indonesia and this species is also known from neighbouring Riau province plus the island province of Bangka. On Sumatra it may be restricted to the Indragiri and Batang Hari river systems. Inhabits peat swamp forests and associated black water streams in which the water is typically stained brown with humic acids and other chemicals released by decaying organic material. The dissolved mineral content is generally negligible and the pH can be as...

D. johorensis can be distinguished by the following combination of characters: 5-6 dark, lateral stripes on body in specimens larger than 40 mm; stripes immediately above and below the central stripe (stripes '+1' and '-1', respectively) located on scale rows +2 and -2, not touching dorsal and ventral midlines (except in some small specimens from Peninsular Malaysia); stripes broad, typically between 0.5-1 scale rows deep...

Confusion with similar-looking fishes from other genera, such as Garra cambodgiensis, laterally-striped Crossocheilus spp. or Gyrinocheilus aymonieri is not uncommon, and are largely attributable to the use of trade names such as 'false flying fox' or 'Siamese flying fox'. When compared with the other species E. kalopterus exhibits several unique characters but perhaps the simplest way to identify it is by the characteristic white-edged, red and black coloured fins and the presence of two pairs of barbels.

Known from the Malay Peninsula and Singapore plus Greater Sunda Islands of Sumatra, Borneo and Java in Indonesia with populati0ns from Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam formerly considered as conspecific now referred to K. geminus (Ng, 2003). Type locality is given as 'Bandjarmassing' which corresponds to a town now more commonly referred to as 'Banjarmasin' in South Kalimantan (Kalimantan Selatan) province, Indonesia (Borneo).

Different populations vary in appearance somewhat (see image of Salween specimen for example), and L. leptocheilus may turn out to represent a group of closely-related species rather than a single taxon. The population from the Cambodian Mekong has been considered to represent a distinct species, Labiobarbus lineatus, although that name is currently a synonym of L. leptocheilus following Kottelat (2013). It is widely used in the ornamental trade, however.

It can be distinguished from congeners by the following combination of characters: 61-68 scales in the lateral series; a small, well-defined, sometimes ocellated black spot on the shoulder and another in the centre of the caudal peduncle; body without longitudinal stripes formed by spots on scales; caudal fin uniformly dusky or colourless, lobes without stripes or black margins.

P. tetrazona is traditionally considered to be among the most ubiquitous species available in the aquarium trade. Wild examples are rarely traded, however, and there exists ongoing confusion as to the identity of the commercially-produced 'aquarium' tiger barb. A number of selectively-bred, ornamental strains are available. The albino, 'green' (aka 'moss'), and 'golden' (leucistic) variants are particularly pop...

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 species is often confused with the nominal congeners C. marulius (Hamilton, 1822) and C. melanoptera (Bleeker, 1855) with all three presenting taxonomic problems. For example, C. marulioides exhibits a number of variations in colour pattern depending on collection locality with the most common possessing a brownish base colour with a series of dark, chevron-like markings along each flank and some scales margined posteriorly in white.

C. micropeltes is also referred to as 'Indonesian', 'red', or 'redline' snakehead, the latter names in reference to the appearance of juveniles which often appear in the ornamental trade despite its unsuitability for home aquaria. It is somewhat hyperbolised in the media as a fearsome, invasive "monster" fish with a reputation for killing more fish than it can eat, and even the occasional human, although in reality...

Apparently native to Peninsular Malaysia plus the Greater Sunda Islands of Borneo, Sumatra, and Java. Reports of this species from the Mekong, Chao Phraya, and other rivers in Indochina refer to the congener L. rubripinna (see 'Notes'). Type locality is 'Indonesia: Borneo: Kalimantan Selatan: Banjarmasin'.

It is thought to have been extirpated from the Chao Phraya and Mae Klong rivers, Lake Songkhla, and the entire island of Java due to a variety of anthropogenic factors, and the Mekong populations have also been drastically reduced. In particular, it is sensitive to pollution and gillnetting, and is heavily overfished.

P. apogon has formerly been placed within the genera Kryptopterus, Micronema (Rainboth, 1996) and more recently Phalacronotus (Ferraris, 2007) and is an important food fish across much of its native range. It's very similar to P. micronema but can be told apart by its longer head (HL fits 4.6± 5.3 times in...