It is included in a group often referred to as ‘red-eyed puffers’, which currently contains four recognised species distributed in Indochina and the Greater Sunda Islands. It can be distinguished from C. borneensis, C. irrubesco, and C. lorteti, the remaining members of this group, by the following combination of characters: 11 dorsal-fin rays; 16 pectoral-fin rays; 11-13 anal-fin rays; 11 caudal-fin rays; eyes not bulging above the head; in males dorsal-fin hyaline, black spot on dorsal-fin base present, pectoral-fin base hyaline, anal-fin hyaline with no black spot at base…

This species is relatively uncommon in the aquarium hobby but is available on occasion, sometimes mixed in among shipments of the congener C. salivator.

These two can be told apart by the fact that C. salivator possesses a series of distinct dark bars on the head and body in both sexes, a colour pattern unique within the genus.

It is also similar t…

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 occasionally appears in the aquarium hobby, but the trade is largely reliant on commercially-produced ‘tiger barbs’ of questionable origin.

It is distinguished from congeners by the following combination of characters: lateral line complete; 14 circumpeduncular scales; 21-23+2 scales in the lateral row; dorsal-fin black with red outer band; pelvic fins red.

Images depict clear, tea-coloured forest streams with dense marginal vegetation and substrates of sand and/or small rocks and pebbles. It’s also known from environments with sandy substrate and organic debris in the form of submerged roots/branches and le…

Patterning is highly variable depending both within and between populations and the species may comprise an assemblage containing a number of taxa (Kottelat and Lim, 1993; Tan and Kottelat, 2009). For example, those from Singapore and Johor possessing intricate mottling on the dorsal surface while individuals from Terengganu have a series of saddle-like markings either alternating or connecting with the midlateral markings.

One of a handful of Pangio spp. traded under the generic name ‘eel loach’, though it’s most commonly available as bycatch among shipments of other fishes. Some authors have suggested it may be synonymous with P. anguillaris bu…

Acanthopsoides spp. are most closely related to the horse-faced loaches of the genus Acantopsis with which they often co-occur in nature, and thus commonly referred to as 'dwarf horse-face loaches'. The genus currently comprises five species of which four were described by Siebert (1991); these were discovered in existing museum holdings…

One of the more commonly-traded members of the genus and often found in mixed shipments which may contain other Gastromyzon spp. or related fishes like Beaufortia kweichowensis. These are typically labelled ‘Borneo sucker’, ‘Hong Kong pleco’, ‘butterfly loach’, etc. regardless of species.

It’s sometimes misidentified as G. punctulatus, a species not currently traded which possesses yellow finnage and a lighter-coloured, less-intensely spo…

Some individuals do appear very similar to G. farragus, with noticeable spotting on the head, but can usually still be told apart by examining the caudal-fin which tends to contain only a single thick, dark vertical bar in G. farragus whereas in G. ocellatus there are more often two bars, one thick, one thinner. Intermediate forms do exist though meaning identification is sometimes tricky.