Updated 2 April 2025
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Barbucca Roberts 1989 barba (L.), beard or barbel; bucca (L.), cheek, referring to tuberculate cheek patch on B. diabolica males

Barbucca diabolica Roberts 1989 Latin for devilish, from diabolikós (Gr. διαβολικός), referring to its glowing red eyes and “spiked tail” (i.e., large, sharp-pointed tubercles on caudal peduncle of both males and females; Tyson R. Roberts, pers. comm.)

Barbucca elongata Vasil’eva & Vasil’ev 2013 Latin for prolonged, referring to its more elongate body compared with B. diabolica

Barbucca heokhuii Kottelat 2025 in honor of ichthyologist Tan Heok Hui, Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (Singapore), for his work on Southeast Asian fishes, especially fishes of peat swamp forests and loaches of Borneo, and his “long lasting friendship, collaboration and companionship in the field”