This species is not often seen in the aquarium hobby but occasionally exported as bycatch among shipments of other fishes. It was described as a subspecies of the closely-related ‘P.‘ binotatus but is currently considered distinct on a tentative basis as per Ng and Tan (1999) who stated it is ‘likely’ that the two represent extreme colour forms of a single, variably-patterned species.

This species is so ubiquitous across its natural range that it’s often referred to simply as ‘common barb’. Basic adult colour pattern consists of a small, dark spot at the base of the dorsal-fin origin and another on the caudal peduncle but overall appearance varies somewhat depending on origin, with the anterior dark spot enlarged ventrally forming a bar or posterior spot extending into the caudal-fin, for example. The spots may also appear darker or lighter in some individuals.

Within the genus Boraras this species is most similar to B. naevus, though in the latter the red body colouration does not extend into the head. The two also differ in the following characters: anteriormost lateral blotch of comparable size in both sexes in B. maculatus vs. significantly larger in male than female B. naevus; 9-10 + 9 principal caudal-fin rays vs. 9 + 8; 26-29 lateral scales vs. 24-26; i.6.i. pelvic-fin rays vs. i.5.i.