G. salweenica can be distinguished from other congeners inhabiting the Salween watershed by the following combinatuion of characters: body brownish; presence of a trilobed proboscis on the snout; snout blunt; a series of black spots at the base of the central dorsal-fin rays; presence of longitudinal stripes on the posterior portion of the body; a dark marking at the tip of the upper (and lower in some specimens) caudal-fin lobe; body depth 22.4-25.3 % SL.

We’ve been unable to obtain a diagnosis for this species to date but it can at least be distinguished from those congeners traded as ‘Crossocheilus siamensis’ (an invalid name synonymous with C. oblongus, which is itself of questionable identity), ‘Siamese algae eater’, or ‘SAE’ by the fact that the dark lateral stripe does not extend into the caudal-fin.

Members of Crossocheilus are characterised by…