This species is frequently mistaken for the similar-looking congener M. spechti Schreitmüller 1936, which is easily-identified by the absence of reddish pigmentation in the dorsal, anal, and caudal fins. There has been some debate as to whether these two represent the same taxon, however, with Winstanley and Clements (2008) proposing that M. erythropterus be considered a synonym of M. spechti because they were unable to separate the two species by morphological characters, and specimens with red pigmentation on the unpaired fins were coll…

This species is traded under various names including ‘Vietnamese multi-banded zebra loach’, ‘hovering zebra loach’, ‘Laos pygmy multi-stripe loach’, and ‘banded dwarf loach’.

It can be distinguished from related species by the following combination of characters: body with distinct vertical bars; 8 branched dorsal-fin rays; 3-10 pored lateral line scales; one pair of large papillae in median portion of upper lip; two pairs of large papillae in median portion of lower lip; lower posterior edge of opercle with 3-4 prominent indentations.

S. lineolata was first recorded by Diard over 150 years prior to its 'rediscovery' in the early-1990s. It became available to the aquarium trade in the mid-2000s and swiftly established itself as one of the more popular balitorids in the hobby due to its attractive body markings and ease of breeding. It's also sold under the names 'reticulated hillstream loach', 'Vietnamese hillstream loach' and 'gold ring butterfly sucker'.

It's difficult to…