Family CYPRINIDAE: Subfamily ACROSSOCHEILINAE Yang, Sado, Hirt, Pasco-Viel, Arunachalam, Li, Wang, Freyhof, Saitoh, Simons, Miya, He & Mayden 2015 (East Asian Barbs)

Updated 22 Jan. 2026
PDF version (illustrated and with additional information)

Acrossocheilus Oshima 1919 ἀ (privative), i.e., without; crosso, from krossós (κροσσός), fringe or tassel; cheī́los (χεῖλος), lip, referring to smooth upper lip, which distinguishes it from Crossocheilus (Labeoninae)

Acrossocheilus beijiangensis Wu & Lin 1977ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Bei Jiang River, Pearl River drainage, Guandong Province, China, where it is endemic

Acrossocheilus dabieensis Chen & Zhao 2025 -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Dabie Mountains, Henan Province, China, where type locality (Jingangtai Nature Reserve) is situated

Acrossocheilus fasciatus (Steindachner 1892) Latin for banded, referring to five narrow dark brown transverse bands running from back to near the edge of the belly

Acrossocheilus furongjiangensis Xiao 2024ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Furongjiang River drainage, northern Guizhou Province, China, where type locality (Huaixi River) is situated

Acrossocheilus hemispinus (Nichols 1925) hemi-, from hḗmisys (ἥμισυς), half; spinus (L.), thorn, presumably referring to last simple ray of dorsal fin, “stiffened and serrate behind, but soft distally”

Acrossocheilus ikedai (Harada 1943) in honor of Kiyoshi Ikeda, General, Japanese Imperial Navy in World War II

Acrossocheilus jishouensis Zhao, Chen & Li 1997ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Jishou City, Hunan Province, China, type locality

Acrossocheilus kreyenbergii (Regan 1908) in honor of German physician-naturalist Martin Kreyenberg (1872–1914), who collected holotype

Acrossocheilus labiatus (Regan 1908) Latin for lipped, referring to thick lower lip, divided into two lobes by a deep anterior notch

Acrossocheilus multistriatus Lan, Chan & Zhao 2014 multi– (L.), many; striatus (L.), furrowed or grooved (i.e., striped or barred), referring to high number of vertical black bars on flank compared with other barred congeners

Acrossocheilus paradoxus (Günther 1868) Latin for strange or contrary to expectation, referring to a “very singular variation” in which one specimen had a “considerably produced” snout and three others had shorter, obtuse snouts

Acrossocheilus parallens (Nichols 1931) presumably derived from parállēlos (παράλληλος), parallel or side-by-side, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to “distinct short cross-marks, confined to the sides of the back (except in young)”

Acrossocheilus rendahli (Lin 1931) patronym not identified but almost certainly in honor of Swedish zoologist and artist Hialmar Rendahl (1891–1969), who described many Chinese fishes

Acrossocheilus spinifer Yuan, Wu & Zhang 2006 spinus (L.), thorn; –ifer, from fera (L.), to have or bear, referring to spinous and stout last simple dorsal-fin ray

Acrossocheilus wenchowensis Wang 1935ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Wenchow (now Wenzhou), Zhejiang Province, China, type locality

Acrossocheilus wuyiensis Wu & Chen 1981ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Wuyi Mountains, Wuyishan Natural Reserve, Fujian, China, where type locality (Min River drainage) is situated

Angustistoma Hoàng 2025 angustus (L.), narrow; stóma (στόμα), mouth, referring to “narrow to moderate” mouth width compared with all other genera of Acrossocheilinae except Scaphesthes

Angustistoma barbatum (Lin 1931) Latin for bearded, referring to two pairs of small (⅔-¾ eye diameter) barbels on lower jaw

Angustistoma macrolepis (Bleeker 1871) macro-, from makrós (μακρός), long or large; lepίs (λεπίς), scale, referring to its large scales, ~50 on the lateral line

Folifer Wu 1977 etymology not explained, perhaps foli-, from folium (L.), leaf; –ifer, from fera (L.), to have or bear, referring to “middle leaf” (translation), or mentum, of lower lip, the diagnostic character of the genus

Folifer bonvaloti (Vaillant 1893) in honor of Gabriel Bonvalot (1853–1933), French explorer of Central Asia and Tibet, who collected holotype with Prince Henri of Orléans (1867–1901)

Folifer brevifilis (Peters 1881) brevis (L.), short; filis (scientific Neo-Latin), thread-like or filiform, referring to its very short barbels

Folifer hainanensis (Wu 1977)ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Hainan Island, China, where it is endemic

Folifer yunnanensis Wang, Zhuang & Gao 1982ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Yunnan Province, China, where it is endemic to Lake Fuxianhu in Jiangchuan County

Hongiastoma Hoàng & Nguyễn 2025 hong-, Vietnamese prefix meaning the Song Hong or Red River, where H. argentatum occurs; stóma (στόμα), mouth, referring to horny sharp sheath on lower lip

Hongiastoma argentatum (Nguyen & Doan 1969) Latin for plated with silver, referring to its plain silver body coloration [some argue that Nguyen & Doan 1969 is an unavailable publication, in which case authorship is (Mai 1978)]

Hongiastoma zhangbuensis (Zheng & Chen 2025)ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Zhangbu River, Zhangbu town, Guizhou Province, China, type locality

Masticbarbus Tang 1942 mástix (μάστιξ), whip, referring to referring to long dorsal-fin
filament on some specimens of M. pentafasciatus (=longipinnis); Barbus (Barbinae), then a catch-all genus for many African, Asian and European cyprinids, including several acrossocheilines

Masticbarbus clivosius (Lin 1935) Latin for steeper, referring to its occurrence in mountain streams

Masticbarbus iridescens (Nichols & Pope 1927) Neo-Latin for iridescent or rainbow-like, presumably referring to its coloration

Masticbarbus longipinnis (Wu 1939) longus (L.), long; pinnis, Neo-Latin adjective of pinna (L.), fin, i.e., finned, referring to long dorsal-fin filament on some specimens

Masticbarbus microstoma (Pellegrin & Chevey 1936) micro-, from mikrós (μικρός), small; stóma (στόμα), mouth, referring to its very small (“très petite”) mouth

Onychostoma Günther 1896 onýchion (ὀνύχιον), small claw; stóma (στόμα), mouth, probably referring to “horny sharp sheath” on mandible (i.e., sharp lower jaw) of O. laticeps (=simum)

Onychostoma alticorpus (Oshima 1920) altus (L.), high; corpus (L.), body, referring to its deep, elongate, slightly compressed body, deepest in front of dorsal fin

Onychostoma angustistomatum (Fang 1940) narrow-mouthed, from angustus (L.), narrow, and stómatos (στόματος), genitive of stóma (στόμα), mouth, referring to its smaller mouth width compared with O. simum

Onychostoma breve (Wu & Chen 1977) Latin for short, referring to its shorter length-to-height ratio compared with Scaphiodonichthys macracanthus (Barbinae), its presumed congener at the time

Onychostoma daduense Ding 1994ense, Latin suffix denoting place: Dadu River, Ebian County, Sichuan Province, China, type locality

Onychostoma lini (Wu 1939) in honor of Chinese ichthyologist Lin Shu-Yen (1903–1974)

Onychostoma monticola (Günther 1888) montis (L.), mountain, –cola (L.), dweller or inhabitant, referring to its type locality, a mountain stream flowing into Ichang gorge of Yangtze River, China

Onychostoma ovale Pellegrin & Chevey 1936 Latin for oval, referring to its oval body shape, which distinguishes it from O. rarum [originally spelled ovalis, emended to agree with neuter genus; placed in Scaphiodontella Oshima 1920 by some workers, treated here as a junior synonym] 

Onychostoma ovale rhomboides (Tang 1942)oides, Neo-Latin from eī́dos (εἶδος), form or shape, referring to its “more or less rhomboid” body shape

Onychostoma rarum (Lin 1933) Latin for rare, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to only two known specimens at time of description

Onychostoma simum (Sauvage & Dabry de Thiersant 1874) Latin for blunt-nosed, referring to short, obtuse snout

Onychostoma yunnanense (Regan 1904)ense, Latin suffix denoting place: Yunnan-Fu (now Kunming), Yunnan Province, China, type locality

Scaphesthes Oshima 1919 scaph-, from Scaphiodon (=Capoeta, Barbinae), presumed to be a “closely related” genus; –estes, from esthḗs (ἐσθής), dress, clothing or raiment, i.e., dressed like Scaphiodon

Scaphesthes barbatula (Pellegrin 1908) diminutive of barbatus (L.), bearded, referring to its “quite rudimentary” (translation) barbels (>1 mm in length)

Scaphesthes brevibarba (Song, Cao & Zhang 2018) brevis (L.), short; barba (L.), beard, referring to two pairs of minute or papillae-like barbels

Scaphesthes elongata (Pellegrin & Chevey 1934) Latin for prolonged, referring to its more elongate body shape compared with Crossochilus (now Acrossocheilus) monticola

Scaphesthes minnanensis (Jang-Liaw & Chen 2013)ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: “Min-Nan,” i.e., southern region of Fujian Province, China, only known area of occurrence

Scaphostoma Hoàng & Pham 2025 scapho-, from skaphís (σκαφίς), shovel or scoop (authors say bow-shaped); stóma (στόμα), mouth, referring to “horny sharp sheath on the lower lip,” used to scrape off and feed on algae

Scaphostoma annamense Hoàng, Pham & Tran 2025ense, Latin suffix denoting place: eastern Annamite Cordillera, Vietnam, where it occurs

Scaphostoma erythrogenys (Nguyen & Doan 1969) erythrós (ἐρυθρός), red, described as having a red body; génys (γένυς), jaw (usually the cheek or lower jaw in ichthyology), allusion not explained nor evident

Scaphostoma fusiforme (Kottelat 1998) spindle-shaped, from fusus (L.), spindle, and forma (L.), shape or form, referring to its elongated shape compared with congeners in Onychostoma, its original genus

Scaphostoma gerlachi (Peters 1881) patronym not identified but almost centainly in honor of German physician Carl Gerlach (1843–1913), who lived parts of his life in Hong Kong and sent a collection of fishes from there, including holotype of this one

Scaphostoma krongnoense (Hoang, Pham & Tran 2015)ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: upper Krong No drainage, Lam Dong Province, Vietnam, type locality

Scaphostoma lepturus (Boulenger 1900) leptós (λεπτός), thin or slender; urus, from ourá (οὐρά), tail, referring to its thin caudal peduncle, “thrice as long as deep” [name treated as a noun per ICZN Art. 31.2.2]

Scaphesthes meridionale (Kottelat 1998) Latin for southern, being the southernmost species of Onychostoma, its original genus