Every species

The New Guinea tiger perch, Datnioides campbelli, is a large tiger perch from southern New Guinea, recorded mostly from the lower Fly River basin. A golden yellow base colour with 4 to 6 wide, diffuse dark bars separates it from its congeners. The species is euryhaline, found in brackish tidal creeks as well as in tributaries and swamps at least 900 km from the sea, and it grows to 350 mm SL.

The Indonesian tiger perch, Datnioides microlepis, is a large tiger perch from Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Indonesian Borneo. It has 6 to 7 wide dark bars and small body scales, lives only in large, deep lowland rivers, and grows to 500 mm SL. Juveniles may form groups, but adults are not gregarious and respond aggressively to conspecifics and similarly-shaped fishes.

The silver tiger perch, Datnioides polota, is a tiger perch widely distributed in southeastern Asia, from India and Bangladesh east to Indonesia. Mostly found in brackish habitats such as estuaries, mangroves and coastal lagoons, it has a highly variable colour pattern with up to 7 dark bars. The name D. quadrifasciatus is sometimes applied to it, but that name is a junior homonym and polota takes precedence.

The Siamese tiger perch, Datnioides pulcher, is a large tiger perch from the Mae Klong, Chao Phraya, Mekong and Dong Nai river systems. Wild populations are hypothesised to have declined by more than 90% since the mid-1980s, and it has been locally extinct in Thailand since the 1990s. Highly sought after by aquarists, it usually has 4 broad dark bars, and D. microlepis is sometimes sold as D. pulcher to raise prices.

The Mekong tiger perch, Datnioides undecimradiatus, is known only from the middle and lower Mekong basin in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. An efficient, largely piscivorous predator of large, deep lowland rivers, it is marked with 4 relatively thin dark bars. The names 'Siamese tiger fish' and 'gold datnoid' are sometimes applied to it, but more typically belong to D. pulcher.

Dawkinsia arulius is a cyprinid from Karnataka, southwestern India, apparently now restricted to the upper Cauvery and the Tungabhadra headwaters. Adults have three large, diffuse dark markings on the body. It appears extirpated at its type locality, most likely because of the Krishna Raja Sagara dam upstream, and the fish traded as 'arulius barb' is often the related D. tambraparniei, in which males have filamentous dorsal-fin rays.

The mascara barb, Dawkinsia assimilis, is a cyprinid from the Netravati, Chalakudy and Kallada basins of Karnataka and Kerala, India. The caudal-fin lobes are tipped with a black band about as wide as the eye, faint or absent in Kallada fish. Misidentified in the past as Puntius mahecola, it still appears on trade lists as 'mahecola barb', and some populations might represent distinct species.

Dawkinsia chalakkudiensis is a cyprinid from Kerala, southern India, known from the Chalakudy, Periyar, Pamba and Achankovil rivers. It was first exported in 1996 as D. denisonii, from which it differs in its inferior mouth, a black marking in the dorsal fin, and a duller scarlet body stripe. It can be belligerent and is unsuitable for the general community aquarium.

The red-line torpedo barb, Dawkinsia denisonii, is a cyprinid endemic to Kerala and Karnataka in southern India. It is still often sold as Sahyadria denisonii. Extremely popular since it appeared in the trade in the late 1990s, it is listed as Endangered by the IUCN, and collection for the aquarium trade has been held largely responsible for its decline. Large numbers are produced in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe. The similar D. chalakkudiensis is occasionally traded as this species and is more belligerent.

Dawkinsia exclamatio is a cyprinid from the Kallada River in southern Kerala, India, and may be endemic to that river system. Rare in the hobby, it occasionally arrives as bycatch among similar-looking species such as D. assimilis. Two black blotches on each flank set it apart from the rest of the group, but there is a case that it is a natural hybrid between D. assimilis and a D. arulius-like fish found with it at its type locality.

The filament barb, Dawkinsia filamentosa, is a cyprinid endemic to the Western Ghats region of southern India, in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Adult males and some females develop filament-like extensions to the branched dorsal-fin rays. Most common in lowland coastal floodplains, it occurs in fresh and brackish water, and it also appears on trade lists as 'blackspot barb' or 'mahecola barb'.

Dawkinsia rohani is a cyprinid known only from Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu state, at the southern tip of the Indian peninsula. A single black club-shaped blotch running back to the caudal-fin base, with no other body markings in front of it, separates it from congeners. Habitat data are lacking, but it is a pelagic, riverine species and apparently most common in hill streams.

Dawkinsia rubrotincta is a cyprinid from southern India, considered widespread throughout the Cauvery drainage in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It may have appeared in the trade under the misapplied names Puntius arulius and P. tambraparniei. Three small, well-defined dark body markings separate it from D. arulius, D. srilankensis and D. tambraparniei, in which the markings are larger and more diffuse.

The 'arulius' barb, Dawkinsia tambraparniei, is a cyprinid possibly restricted to the middle Tambraparni River basin in Tamil Nadu, southern India. Described as a subspecies of D. arulius, it appears in most earlier aquarium literature as Puntius arulius or 'arulius barb' and is often still traded as such, although D. arulius is quite different-looking and rarely exported. Many fish in the trade are likely to have been bred commercially.

The butterfly plec, Dekeyseria picta (L168), is a flattened loricariid catfish from the Rio Negro in Brazil. The Rio Orinoco fish traded as L052 is now included in the same species. Also called the chameleon plec, it changes colour to match the substrate and other surfaces and has a distinctive night-time colouration. It needs well-oxygenated water with plenty of movement.

The wrestling halfbeak, Dermogenys pusilla, is a halfbeak widespread from India and Myanmar east to Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia. Males fight by locking jaws, and in some of its native countries it is used as a fighting fish with wagers placed on the outcome. Probably the halfbeak most commonly seen in the trade, it can be delicate when first imported and is flighty, so dense planting around the edges helps protect its mouthparts from the glass.

Desmopuntius endecanalis is a cyprinid apparently endemic to the Kapuas River basin in West Kalimantan, Borneo, including the Danau Sentarum lakes. A whitish base body colour and 8 (rarely 7) branched anal-fin rays distinguish it from congeners, and its placement in Desmopuntius was only tentative. Its habitat is unconfirmed, but related species are associated with peat swamps and black water streams.

Sometimes traded as the 'boomerang barb' or 'Foersch's fire barb', Desmopuntius foerschi is a cyprinid from East and Central Kalimantan, Borneo. Extra dark blotches between the second, third and fourth vertical bars, and a mark at the rear of the dorsal-fin base, set it apart from other vertically-striped congeners. It probably inhabits peat swamps and associated blackwater streams, and information on its range is scarce.

Desmopuntius gemellus is a rarely-traded cyprinid from eastern Sumatra and the island of Bangka, Indonesia. Like D. johorensis and D. trifasciatus, it is vertically barred as a juvenile and changes to a pattern of thin lateral stripes, a change that begins at around 20 mm SL and is normally complete by 30 to 40 mm. It inhabits peat swamp forests and associated black water streams.

Normally traded as the 'pentazona' barb, Desmopuntius hexazona is a cyprinid from southern Borneo, eastern Sumatra, Singapore and the Malay Peninsula. It is almost identical to D. pentazona, which has a small dark marking at the rear of the dorsal-fin base that D. hexazona lacks. Older literature may label it 'Puntius johorensis'. In Singapore it is considered highly endangered and is restricted to the Central Catchment nature reserve.