Updated 17 April 2024
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Aborichthys Chaudhuri 1913 Abor Hills, Arunachal Pradesh, northeast India, type locality of A. kempi (=A. boutanensis); ichthýs (Gr. ἰχθύς), fish

Aborichthys bajpaii Singh & Kosygin 2022 in honor of Prabhat Bajpai, retired Head of Zoology Department, D.A.V. (PG) College, Kanpur, India, for his contribution to the study of fishes and fisheries of India

Aborichthys barapensis Nanda & Tamang 2021 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Barap stream near Lazu Village, Brahmaputra River basin, Arunachal Pradesh, India, type locality

Aborichthys boutanensis (McClelland 1842) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Boutan (now spelled Bhutan), where type locality (Mishmee Mountains) is situated

Aborichthys cataracta Arunachalam, Raja, Malaiammal & Mayden 2014 from kataráktēs (Gr. καταράκτης), waterfall, referring to the only habitat from which it is known and may be restricted

Aborichthys elongatus Hora 1921 Latin for prolonged, referring to its “greatly elongated and compressed” body form

Aborichthys garoensis Hora 1925 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Garo Hills, Meghalaya, Assam, India, type locality

Aborichthys iphipaniensis Kosygin, Gurumayum, Singh & Chowdhury 2019 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Iphipani River, Arunachal Pradesh, India, type locality

Aborichthys kailashi Shangningam, Kosygin, Sinha & Gurumayum 2019 in honor of Kailash Chandra, Director, Zoological Survey of India, for “contributions to the faunal resources of India”

Aborichthys kempi Chaudhuri 1913 in honor of English marine biologist Stanley Wells Kemp (1882–1945), Zoological Survey of India, who collected holotype

Aborichthys pangensis Shangningam, Kosygin, Sinha & Gurumayum 2019 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Pange River, Brahmaputra basin, Arunachal Pradesh, India, only known area of occurrence

Aborichthys palinensis Nanda & Tamag 2021 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Palin, headquarter of Kra Daadi District, Arunachal Pradesh, India, where type locality (tributary of Palin River) is situated Aborichthys tikaderi

Aborichthys verticauda Arunachalam, Raja, Malaiammal & Mayden 2014 verticalis (L.), upright or vertical; cauda (L.), tail, referring to straight or slightly truncate caudal fin

Aborichthys waikhomi Kosygin 2012 in honor of Indian ichthyologist Waikhom Vishwanath (b. 1954), Manipur University, for his encouragement of the author’s work on this species

Acanthocobitis Peters 1861 acanthus (L.), from ákantha (Gr. ἄκανθα), thorn, referring to prominent spine under eyes of A. longipinnis; cobitis, from kōbí̄tis (κωβῖτις), ancient Greek name for small fishes that bury in the bottom and/or are like a gudgeon or goby (the name was first applied to loaches by Rondelet in 1555)

Acanthocobitis longipinnis Peters 1861 longus (L.), long; pinnis, Neo-Latin adjective of pinna (L.), fin, i.e., finned (but treated as a noun), referring to dorsal-fin length, equal to its distance from the eye

Acanthocobitis pavonacea (McClelland 1839) –acea (L. suffix): having the nature of: pavo (L.), peacock, referring to peacock-like ocellus (eyespot) on caudal peduncle

Afronemacheilus Golubtsov & Prokofiev 2009 Afro-, from Latin Afr-, stem of Afer, African, i.e., a Nemacheilus from Africa

Afronemacheilus abyssinicus (Boulenger 1902) –icus (L.), belonging to: Abyssinia, referring to what is now Ethiopia, where it is endemic

Afronemacheilus kaffa Prokofiev & Golubsov 2013 named after Kaffa, historical region of Ethiopia, where type locality is situated

Barbatula Linck 1790 tautonymous with Cobitis barbatula

Barbatula altayensis Zhu 1992 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: near Altay City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, type locality

Barbatula barbatula (Linnaeus 1758) diminutive of barba (L.), beard, referring to six barbels around upper jaw, larger than those on similar Cobitis taenia (Cobitidae)

Barbatula barbatula caucasicus (Berg 1898) –icus (L.), belonging to: northern Caucasus region, Russia, region of Terek River basin, type locality

Barbatula cobdonensis (Gundriser 1973) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Kobdo (also known as Khovd) River basin, Russia, where it is endemic [species inquirenda, provisionally included here]

Barbatula compressirostris (Warpachowski 1897) compressus (L.), squeezed or pressed together; rostris, Neo-Latin scientific adjective of rostrum (L.), snout, referring to its “strongly compressed” (translation) snout (caused by drying of two syntype specimens, Artem Prokofiev, pers. comm.) [treated as a junior synonym of B. toni by some workers]

Barbatula conilobus Prokofiev 2016 conus, from kṓnos (Gr. κῶνος), cone; obus, from lobós (Gr. λοβός), lobe, referring to conical protrusions of mental lobes of lower lip

Barbatula dgebuadzei (Prokofiev 2003) in honor of ichthyologist Yuri Yulianovich Dgebaudze, Russian Academy of Sciences, who collected holotype

Barbatula dsapchynensis Prokofiev 2016 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Dsapchyn, old name of Zavkhan River basin, Mongolia, where it occurs

Barbatula emuensis Chen, Zhang, Chen & Freyhof 2019 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Emu City, Jilin Province, China, type locality

Barbatula gibba Cao, Causse & Zang 2012 gibbus (L.), humped, referring to greatly convex predorsal profile

Barbatula golubtsovi (Prokofiev 2003) in honor of ichthyologist Alexander S. Golubstov, Russian Academy of Sciences, who collected holotype

Barbatula hispanica (Lelek 1987) –ica (L.), belonging to: Spain, proposed as a Spanish subspecies of B. barbatula (also occurs in France)

Barbatula karabanowi Prokofiev 2018 in honor of hydrobiologist Dmitry P. Karabanow, Russian Academy of Sciences, for his “invaluable” help during Prokofiev’s 2008 expedition to Mongolia

Barbatula leoparda Gauliard, Dettai, Persat, Keith & Denys 2019 unnecessary adjectival form of leopardus (L.), leopard, referring to the leopard-like ventral blotches on adults

Barbatula kirinensis Tchang 1932 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Kirin, Jilin Province, northeastern China, where type locality (Jingpo Lake) is situated

Barbatula liaoyangensis Chen, Zhang, Chen & Freyhof 2019 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Liaoyang, Liaoning Province, China, where type locality (Taizi River) is situated

Barbatula linjiangensis Chen, Zhang, Chen & Freyhof 2019 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: near Linjiang City, Jilin Province, China, type locality

Barbatula markakulensis (Menshikov 1939) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Lake Marka-kul’, Irtysh basin, Kazakhstan, type locality

Barbatula nuda (Bleeker 1865) nudus (L.), bare or naked, referring to nearly scaleless body (scales only on caudal-fin base)

Barbatula oreas (Jordan & Fowler 1903) from oreiás (Gr. oρειάς), of the hills, allusion not explained, presumably referring to hill-stream habitat in Hokkaido, Japan

Barbatula pechiliensis (Fowler 1899) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Pechili, a 19th-century provide now situated in Inner Mongolia, type locality

Barbatula potaninorum (Prokofiev 2007) –orum (L.), commemorative suffix, plural: in honor of Grigory Nikolevich Potanin (1835-1920, who collected holotype) and his wife Alexandra Victorovna, both famous Central Asian explorers

Barbatula quignardi (Bacescu-Mester 1967) in honor of ichthyologist Jean-Pierre Quignard (b. 1934), Marine Station, Sète, France (and later, Montpelier University), by whose courtesy the author obtained the types

Barbatula restricta Prokoviev 2015 Latin for restricted, referring to its narrow distribution, known only from Saldan-Kol (=Dlinnoye) Lake, Altai Republic, Russia

Barbatula sawadai (Prokofiev 2007) in honor of ichthyologist Yukio Sawada, Hokkaido University (Japan), who studied the osteology of loaches

Barbatula sturanyi (Steindachner 1892) in honor of Austrian malacologist Rudolf Sturany (1867–1935), who accompanied Steindachner when holotype was collected in Macedonia, “as a token of my sincerest affection” (translation)

Barbatula tomiana (Ruzsky 1920) –ana (L.), belonging to: Tom River, Siberia, type locality

Barbatula toni (Dybowski 1869) etymology not explained nor evident, perhaps a misprint or misspelling of Tom, referring to Tom River, a Zeja River tributary in upper Amur drainage, not far from type locality (Artem Prokofiev, pers. comm.)

Barbatula vardarensis (Karaman 1928) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Vardar River basin, Macedonia, type locality [treated as a synonym or subspecies of B. barbatula by some workers]

Barbatula zetensis (Soric 2000) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Zeta River drainage, Montenegro, type locality

Barbatula zhangwuensis Chen, Zhang, Chen & Freyhof 2019 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Zhangwu, Liaoning Province, China, where type locality (Liu River) is situated

Claea Kottelat 2011 replacement name for Oreias Sauvage 1874, preoccupied by two bird names; since Oreias is from the ancient Greek Oreiad, a nymph of the mountain, and each mountain was represented by its own Oreiad nymph, Kottelat selected one of the few Oreiad names not already used as a genus name as the replacement: Claea, nymph of a sacred cave on Mount Kalathion in Messina

Claea dabryi (Sauvage 1874) patronym not identified, probably in honor of Claude-Philibert Dabry de Thiersant 1826–1898), a French counsel to China, who sent specimens to the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris)

Claea dabryi microphthalma (Liao & Wang 1997)  small-eyed, from mikrós (Gr. μικρός), small, and ophthalmós (Gr. ὀφθαλμός), eye, referring to its smaller eyes compared with Triplophysa nanpanjiangensis, its presumed consubspecific at the time [placed in Triplophysa by some workers, which would make it a secondary junior homonym of T. microphthalma (Kessler 1879); description appeared in Liao, Wang & Luo 1997 and authorship often cited that way]

Claea niulanjiangensis (Chen, Lu & Mao 2006) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: from Niulan River (jiang = river), Yunnan Province, China, where it is endemic

Draconectes Kottelat 2012 drákōn (Gr. δράκων), dragon; nḗktēs (Gr. νήκτης), swimmer, referring to Halong Bay, where island habitat of D. narinosus occurs (Ha Long means “descending dragon” and is derived from a local legend that dragons created the landscape of the bay)

Draconectes narinosus Kottelat 2012 Latin for large-nostriled, referring to its relatively large nostrils and their wide openings, apparently unique in the family

Dzihunia Prokofiev 2001 –ia (L. suffix), belonging to: Dzihun, ancient Arabic name for the Amu Darya, river in Uzbekistan and Turkestan where D. amudarjensis occurs

Dzihunia amudarjensis (Rass 1929) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Amu Darya river at Termez, Uzbekistan, type locality

Dzihunia ilan (Turdakov 1936) from ilon, snake, referring to zmeevidnyĭ golets (“serpentine loach”), its local name in Uzbekistan as reported by Turdakov; today, ilon is used in the common name of all loaches in Central Asia, and this one is called ilon baliq, meaning snake fish (Bakhtiyor Sheraliev, pers. comm.)

Dzihunia turdakovi Prokofiev 2003 in honor of Soviet ichthyologist Fedor Turdakov (1899–1968), a specialist in nemacheilid systematics and the fish fauna of Middle and Central Asia

Eidinemacheilus Hashemzadeh Segherloo, Ghaedrahmati & Freyhof 2016 Eidi, named for Eidi Heidari, Lorestan Bureau of Environment (Iran), the ranger who protects the spring in which E. smithi occurs; Nemacheilus, original genus of E. smithi

Eidinemacheilus proudlovei Freyhof, Abdullah, Ararat, Ibrahim & Geiger 2016 in honor of Graham Proudlove (University of Manchester), “a world expert on subterranean fishes, for his continuous efforts documenting the diversity of troglomorphic fishes”

Eidinemacheilus smithi (Greenwood 1976) in honor of English writer, explorer and television personality Anthony Smith (1926–2014), who took “great pains (some of them physical)” in collecting (“not without considerable difficulty”) holotype

Eonemachilus Berg 1938 eos, dawn, from Ēṓs (Ἠώς), the goddess of dawn, allusion not explained; since eos is often used as a prefix for fossil and primitive fishes, perhaps Berg considered the type species (E. nigromaculatus), with its anterior mouth (for which it “deserved to be separated into a distinct genus”), as a primitive or basal Nemacheilus

Eonemachilus altus (Kottelat & Chu 1988) Latin for high, referring to its deep body

Eonemachilus bajiangensis (Li 2004) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Bajiang River, Shilin County, Yunnan Province, China, type locality

Eonemachilus caohaiensis (Ding 1992) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Caohai Lake, Weining County, Guizhou, China, type locality

Eonemachilus longidorsalis (Li, Tao & Lu 2000) longus (L.), long; dorsalis (Neo-Latin), dorsal, referring to its long dorsal fin, longest ray opposite end of anal fin base

Eonemachilus niger (Kottelat & Chu 1988) Latin for black or dark, referring to its “deep velvet black” coloration in life

Eonemachilus nigromaculatus (Regan 1904) nigro-, from niger (L.), dark or black; maculatus (L.), spotted, referring to blackish spots or marblings on back and sides

Eonemachilus obtusirostris (Yang 1995) obtusus (L.), blunt; rostris, Neo-Latin scientific adjective of rostrum (L.), snout, referring to its blunt snout, its length less than interorbital width

Eonemachilus pachycephalus (Kottelat & Chu 1988) thick-headed, from pachýs (Gr. παχύς), thick or stout, and kephalḗ (Gr. κεφαλή), head, referring to large swollen head of some specimens

Eonemachilus yangzonghaiensis (Cao & Zhu 1989) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Yangzong-hai Lake, Yunnan Province, China, type locality

Hedinichthys Rendahl 1933 named for geographer and explorer Sven Hedin (1865–1952), who led expedition to China that collected specimens of H. yarkadensis in 1927–1928; ichthýs (Gr. ἰχθύς), fish

Subgenus Hedinichthys

Hedinichthys macropterus (Herzenstein 1888)  big-finned, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large, and pterus, from pterón (Gr. πτερόν) or ptéryx (πτέρυξ), fin, referring to its longer fins compared with H. yarkadensis

Hedinichthys yarkandensis (Day 1877) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Yarkand region of China, type locality

Subgenus Minihedinichthys Prokofiev 2017 mini-, from minutus (L.), little or small, referring to their size, not exceeding 40 mm SL, i.e., small Hedinichthys

Hedinichthys grummorum Prokofiev 2010 –orum (L.), commemorative suffix, plural: in honor of the Central-Asian explorers, the brothers Grigorii Efimovich (1860–1936) and Vladimir Efimovich Grumm-Grzhimailo (1864–1928), who collected holotype in 1891

Hedinichthys minutus (Li 1966) Latin for little or small, referring to shorter body length (34.6–52.6 mm) compared with Triplophysa stolickai (54.0–109.8 mm), its presumed congener at the time

Heminoemacheilus Zhu & Cao 1987 hemi-, from hḗmisys (Gr. ἥμισυς), half, presumably referring to incomplete lateral line of Paranemachilus zhengbaoshani, which disappears behind pectoral fin; Noemacheilus, alternative spelling of Nemacheilus, type genus of family [a junior synonym of Paranemachilus but provisionally included here; a new generic name has been proposed, Guinemachilus, but is not yet available]

Heminoemacheilus bailianensis (Yang 2013) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Bailian Cave, Liuzhou City, Guangxi Province, China, type locality [temporarily placed in Micronemacheilus by Eschmeyer’s Catalog of Fishes]

Heminoemacheilus longibarbatus (Gan, Chen & Yang 2007) longus (L.), long; barbatus (L.), bearded, having the longest barbels among its presumed congeners in Yunnanilus (original genus) [temporarily placed in Micronemacheilus by Eschmeyer’s Catalog of Fishes]

Homatula Nichols 1925 combination of Homaloptera (“which it suggests”) and Barbatula (“for the present considered a subgenus of Barbatula”)

Homatula acuticephala (Zhou & He 1993) sharp-headed, from acutus (L.), sharp or pointed, and kephalḗ (Gr. κεφαλή), head, referring to its pointed, cone-shaped head

Homatula anguillioides (Zhu & Wang 1985) –oides, Neo-Latin from eíd̄os (Gr. εἶδος), form or shape: anguilla (L.), eel, referring to its cylindrical and elongated body

Homatula anteridorsalis Li, Che & Zhou 2019 anteri-, anterior, from ante (L.), before; dorsalis (Neo-Latin), dorsal, referring to the more anterior origin of its dorsal (and pelvic) fins compared with congeners

Homatula berezowskii (Günther 1896) in honor of Mikhail Berezowski (also spelled Berezowskiy, 1848–1912), Russian ornithologist, archaeologist, anthropologist and explorer, who traveled to China in 1892–1894 and collected holotype

Homatula change Endruweit 2015 named for Change E, lunar goddess in Chinese mythology, said to be of incredible beauty, presumably referring to this loach’s coloration in life

Homatula coccinocola Endruweit, Min & Yang 2018 coccineus (L.), red like a berry; -cola (L.), dweller or inhabitant, i.e., that which lives in the Red River drainage, Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China (type locality)

Homatula cryptoclathrata Li, Che & Zhou 2019 crypto-, from kryptόs (Gr. κρυπτός), cryptic or hidden; clathrata (L.), furnished with a grate or lattice (authors say barred), referring to indistinct pattern of bars on flank in front of dorsal-fin origin

Homatula disparizona Min, Yang & Chen 2013 dispar (L.), unlike or dissimilar; zona (L.), band or girdle, referring to “very” variable color pattern, with anterior bars that join dorsally and posterior stripes that sometimes enclose a series of pale ovoid blotches along midlateral line

Homatula dotui Nguyen, Wu, Cao & Zhang 2021 in honor of Do Van Tu, Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, who captured type specimens

Homatula geminusclathrata Li, Yang, Guo & Zhou 2022 geminus (L.), twin-born (i.e., paired); clathrata (L.), furnished with a grate or lattice (authors say barred), referring to the regularly arranged, paired bars on its flanks [originally spelled geminusclathratus; emended to agree with feminine gender of genus]

Homatula guanheensis Zhou, Ma, Wang, Tang, Meng & Nie 2021 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Guanhe River, Hanjiang River drainage, Henan Province, China, type locality

Homatula laxiclathra Gu & Zhang 2012 laxus (L.), loose, slack or unstrung (authors say wide, perhaps a lapsus for latus?); clathra, perhaps a misspelling of clathrata (L.), latticed or grated (authors say barred), referring to wider vertical bars on caudal peduncle compared with H. berezowskii, H. longidorsalis and H. variegata

Homatula longibarbata Li, Yang, Guo & Zhou 2022 longus (L.), long; barbatus (L.), bearded, referring to its long maxillary barbel, which extends beyond a vertical line at the posterior margin of the eye [originally spelled longibarbatus; emended to agree with feminine gender of genus]

Homatula longidorsalis (Yang, Chen & Kottelat 1994) longus (L.), long; dorsalis (Neo-Latin), dorsal, referring to nine branched dorsal-fin rays, compared with eight rays in most specimens of H. variegata

Homatula microcephala Li, Yang, Guo & Zhou 2022 small-headed, from mikrós (Gr. μικρός), small, and kephalḗ (Gr. κεφαλή), head, referring to smaller head compared with other species of Homatula

Homatula nanpanjiangensis (Min, Chen & Yang 2010) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Nanpanjiang River drainage, Yunnan Province, China, where it is endemic

Homatula nigra Li, Che & Zhou 2019 from niger (L.), dark or black; according to the etymology section, “alluding to the pattern of bars on the flank in front of the dorsal-fin origin,” yet color is described elsewhere as black with no bars on flank of living specimens and with “irregular cloud marks” on flank in alcohol

Homatula oligolepis (Cao & Zhu 1989) olígos (Gr. ὀλίγος), few or scanty; lepίs (Gr. λεπίς), scale, referring to its scaleless body except for caudal-fin base

Homatula oxygnathus (Regan 1908) oxýs (Gr. ὀξύς), sharp or pointed; gnathus, from gnáthos (Gr. γνάθος), jaw, presumably referring to premaxillaries forming a “pointed symphysial projection” [sometimes declined as an adjective, gnatha, jawed]

Homatula potanini (Günther 1896) in honor of Grigory Nikolayaevich Potanin (1835–1920), Russian explorer of Inner Asia, who collected holotype

Homatula pycnolepis Hu & Zhang 2010 pyknós (Gr. πυκνός), dense; lepίs (Gr. λεπίς), scale, referring to densely scaled predorsal body

Homatula robusta Min, Zhao, Shi & Yang 2022 Latin for strong, referring to its stout body and caudal peduncle

Homatula tigris Che, Dao, Chen, Pan, Hua, Liang & Wang 2023 Latin for tiger, referring to tiger-like markings on sides

Homatula variegata (Dabry de Thiersant 1874) Latin for “of different sorts” (particularly colors), presumably referring to slightly wavy bands across a yellow-brown mottled body

Homatula wenshanensis Li, Yang, Li & Liu 2017 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Wenshan City, Yunnan Province, China, type locality

Homatula wujiangensis (Ding & Deng 1990) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Wujiang River, Sichuan Province, China, type locality

Homatula wuliangensis Min, Yang & Chen 2012 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Baimushan River in the Wuliang Mountains, Jingdong County, Yunnan Province, China, where it is endemic

Indoreonectes Rita & Bănărescu 1978 Indo-, prefix indicating India, proposed as an Indian subgenus of Oreonectes

Indoreonectes evezardi (Day 1872) in honor of Col. George C. Evezard (1826–1901), Bombay Staff Corps, who assisted in procuring holotype

Indoreonectes keralensis (Rita & Nalbant 1978) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Kerala State, India, where it is endemic

Indoreonectes neeleshi Kumkar, Pise, Gorule, Verma & Kalous 2021 in honor of Neelesh Dahanukar (b. 1980), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (Pune, India), for his “remarkable” contributions to the understanding of the systematics and evolution of Indian freshwater fishes

Indoreonectes rajeevi Kumkar, Pise, Gorule, Verma & Kalous 2021 in honor of Rajeev Raghavan, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (Kochi, India), for his “remarkable” contributions to the understanding of the systematics and evolution of Indian freshwater fishes

Indoreonectes telanganaensis Prasad, Srinivasulu, Srinivasulu, Anoop & Dahanukar 2020 -ensis, suffix denoting place: Telangana State, India, where type locality (Maisamma Loddi, flowing from the mountains in Kawal Tiger Reserve) is situated

Iskandaria Prokofiev 2009 –ia (L. suffix), belonging to: Iskandar, Arabic nickname of Alexander the Great (356 BC–323 BC), conqueror of Middle Asia, referring to occurrence of both species in Uzbekistan

Iskandaria kuschakewitschi (Herzenstein 1890) in memory of Apollo Aleksandrovich Kushakewitsch (1828–1882), Russian amateur entomologist and explorer through Middle Asia, who collected or supplied some of the type series the year he died

Iskandaria kuschakewitschi badamensis (Turdakov 1948) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Badam River, Kazakhstan, type locality [sometimes spelled badameusis, presumably a typo]

Iskandaria pardalis (Turdakov 1941) párdalis (Gr. πάρδαλις), leopard, referring to brown leopard-like spots on body

Kapuasia Kottelat & Tan 2024 –ia (L. suffix), belonging to: Kapuas River in West Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia, where K. maculiceps was first collected

Kapuasia maculiceps (Roberts 1989) maculatus (L.), spotted; –ceps (Neo-Latin), headed, referring to its spotted head

Karstsinnectes Zhou, Luo, Wang, Zhou & Xiao 2023 Karst, English word for an area of water-eroded limestone, often forming caves; sin, from Sino-, prefix for Sinica (China); nḗktēs (Gr. νήκτης), swimmer, a common suffix for Chinese nemacheilid genus-level names dating to Oreonectes, referring to Chinese cave habitat of all species

Karstsinnectes anophthalmus (Zheng 1981) án (ἄν), Greek privative, i.e., without; ophthalmós (Gr. ὀφθαλμός), eye, referring to its lack of eyes

Karstsinnectes acridorsalis (Lan 2013) acri-, from arcus (L.), bow; dorsalis (Neo-Latin), dorsal, referring to its back, which arches upward to the dorsal fin, then downward to the tail

Karstsinnectes hyalinus (Lan, Yang & Chen 1996) hyálinos (Gr. ὑάλινος), of crystal (here meaning glassy or transparent), referring to its translucent skin

Karstsinnectes parvus (Zhu & Zhu 2015) Latin for little, allusion not explained, presumably referring to slender shape compared with K. hyalinus and/or shorter TL (43.6 mm) compared with other presumed congeners (52–99 mm) in Heminoemacheilus (original genus)

Kayahschistura Kottelat & Grego 2020 Kayah, named for Kayha State, Myanmar, where type locality (a cave) of K. lokalayensis is situated; Schistura, genus of nemacheilid loaches in which most South and Southeast Asian species had been placed

Kayahschistura lokalayensis Kottelat & Grego 2020 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Lokalay Loko Gu Cave, Kayha State, Myanmar, type locality

Lefua Herzenstein 1888 named for Lefu (Ilistaya) River, Khanka Lake basin, Amur River drainage, Russia, type locality of L. pleskei

Lefua costata (Kessler 1876) Latin for ribbed, probably referring to “sharply expressed intermuscular furrows” (translation) along the lateral line

Lefua echigonia Jordan & Richardson 1907 –ia (L. suffix), belonging to: Echigo, a province in Japan, type locality

Lefua hoffmanni Herre 1932 in honor of American entomologist William E. Hoffmann (1896–1986), Director of the Lingnan Natural History Survey and Museum, who accompanied Herre on his field trips in China and collected some of the type series

Lefua nikkonis (Jordan & Fowler 1903) –is, genitive singular of: Nikkon, Japan, near where it occurs

Lefua pleskei (Herzenstein 1888) in honor of Fedor (also spelled Theodor) Dmitrievich Pleske (1858–1932), Russian zoologist, geographer and ethnographer, who collected holotype

Lefua sayu (Herre & Lin 1936) Chinese name for this loach, from sa, sand, and yu, loach

Lefua tokaiensis Ito, Hosoya & Miyazaki 2019 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Tokai region, central Honshu, Japan, its main area of distribution

Lefua torrentis Hosoya, Ito & Miyazaki 2018 –is, genitive singular of: torrens (L.), swift water, referring to its occurrence only in mountain streams, unique in the genus

Malihkaia Kottelat 2017 -ia (L. suffix), belonging to: Mali Hka River, Kachin State, Myanmar, type locality of M. aligera

Malihkaia aligera Kottelat 2017 incorrect feminine form of the masculine aliger (L.), winged (should be aligra), presumably referring to the strongly falcate pectoral fin in males

Mesonoemacheilus Bănărescu & Nalbant 1982 mésos (Gr. μέσος), middle; Noemacheilus, alternative spelling of Nemacheilus, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its affinities lying in the middle between Nemacheilus and Schistura

Mesonoemacheilus guentheri (Day 1867) in honor of German-born British ichthyologist-herpetologist Albert Günther (1830–1914)

Mesonoemacheilus herrei Nalbant & Bănărescu 1982 in honor of the late Albert W. Herre (1868–1962), American ichthyologist-lichenologist, who collected holotype in 1941

Mesonoemacheilus menoni (Zacharias & Minimol 1999) in honor of Indian ichthyologist Ambat Gopalan Kutty Menon (1921–2002), for help, comments and suggestions on the authors’ paper

Mesonoemacheilus pambarensis (Rema Devi & Indra 1994) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Pambar River at border of Chinnar Sanctuary, Western Ghats, Kerala, India, type locality

Mesonoemacheilus periyarensis (Madhusoodana Kurup & Radhakrishnan 2005) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Lake Periyar, Kerala, India, where it is endemic

Mesonoemacheilus petrubanarescui (Menon 1984) in honor of Romanian ichthyologist Petru M. Bănărescu (1921–2009), Institute of Biology, Bucharest, for his “outstanding” contributions to the knowledge of loach systematics

Mesonoemacheilus pulchellus (Day 1873) diminutive of pulcher (L.), beautiful, “a beautiful little Loach” with two rows of canary-colored spots on sides and orange spots on a yellow dorsal fin

Mesonoemacheilus remadevii Shaji 2002 in honor of Karunakaran Rema Devi, Zoological Survey of India, Chennai, for her contributions to the studies of freshwater fishes [preferably spelled remadeviae since name honors a woman, but ICZN 32.5.1 forbids such a correction]

Mesonoemacheilus tambaraparniensis (Menon 1987) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Tambaraparni basin near Courtalam, Tamil Nadu, India, where it is endemic

Mesonoemacheilus triangularis (Day 1865) Latin for triangular, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to V-shaped bands on sides

Micronemacheilus Rendahl 1944 micro-, from mikrós (Gr. μικρός), small, proposed as a subgenus of Nemacheilus, referring to small size of M. cruciatus, 17.5–25.0 mm

Micronemacheilus cruciatus Rendahl 1944 Latin for marked by a cross, referring to its color pattern, which “consist mainly of a dark longitudinal band and a narrow dark transverse band crossing it” (translation)

Micronemacheilus pulcherrimus (Yang, Chen & Lan 2004) superlative of pulcher (L.), beautiful, i.e., most beautiful, referring to “unique” banded color pattern (thin vertical stripes crossing a wide lateral band) compared with presumed congeners in Yunnanilus

Mustura Kottelat 2018 combination of musterion (L.) mystery, and Schistura, referring to the “ambiguous history” of most of its species (most of which were previously placed in Schistura and Physoschistura)

Mustura bella (Kottelat 1990) Latin for pretty, referring to its attractive color pattern (dark brown bars, blotches and saddles on a yellow-brown background)

Mustura celata Kottelat 2018 Latin for undisclosed or kept hidden, referring to its “unclear generic position”

Mustura chhimtuipuiensis (Lalramliana, Lalhlimpuia, Solo & Vanramliana 2016) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Chhimtuipui, local name of the Kaladan River, Mizoram, northeastern India, where it occurs

Mustura chindwinensis (Lokeshwor & Vishwanath 2012) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Chindwin basin, Manipur, India, where it is endemic

Mustura chulabhornae (Suvarnaraksha 2013) in honor of H.R.H. Princess Chulabhorn Mahidol (b. 1957) of Thailand, “for her valuable scientific works” [retained in Physoschistura by some workers]

Mustura dikrongensis (Lokeshwor & Vishwanath 2012) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Dikrong River at Doimukh, Brahmaputra basin, Arunachal Pradesh, India, where it is endemic

Mustura daral Rameshori, Chinglemba, Darshan & Vishwanath 2022 Daral, local name of this loach among the Adi Tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, India

Mustura harkishorei (Das & Darshan 2017) in memory of Harkishore Das, father of the senior author, who inspired his son to take up fisheries research as an academic career [possibly a junior synonym of Nemacheilus corica]

Mustura maepaiensis (Kottelat 1990) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Mae Nam Mae Pai (a river), Mae Hong Son Province, Thailand, type locality

Mustura prashadi (Hora 1921) in honor of Indian malacologist Baini Prashad (1894–1969), Assistant Superintendent, Zoological Survey of India, who gave Hora “every possible encouragement”

Mustura shanensis (Hora 1929) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: southern Shan States, Myanmar, type locality

Mustura shuensis (Bohlen & Šlechtová 2014) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Shu Chaung, tributary of Maton Chaung, Irrawaddy River basin, Myanmar, type locality

Mustura subhashi Choudhury, Das, Bharali, Sarma, Tyagi, Lal & Sarma 2021 in honor of Subhash Chandra Dey, for his contributions to the taxonomy of hillstream fishes of the Arunachal Himalayas

Mustura taretensis Chinglemba, Rameshori & Vishwanath 2021 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Taret River, Chindwin River drainage, Tengnoupal District, Manipur, India, type locality

Mustura tigrina (Lokeshwor & Vishwanath 2012) Latin for tiger-like, referring to tiger-like bars on body

Mustura tuivaiensis (Lokeshwor, Vishwanath & Shanta 2012) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Tuivai River, Churchandpur district, Manipur, India, where it is endemic

Mustura walongensis (Tamang & Sinha 2016) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Walong, Anjaw district, Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India, where it occurs

Mustura yangi Qin, Kottelat, Kyaw & Chen 2022 in honor of Jun-Xing Yang, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, a “specialist” in the study of freshwater fishes

Mustura yunnaniloides (Chen, Kottelat & Neely 2011) –oides, Neo-Latin from eíd̄os (Gr. εἶδος), form or shape: referring to marked similarity in color pattern with some species of Yunnanilus

Nemacheilus Bleeker 1863 nḗma (Gr. νῆμα) thread; cheí̄los (Gr. χεῖλος), lip, referring to six filamentous barbels around mouth of N. fasciatus

Nemacheilus anguilla Annandale 1919 Latin for eel, presumably referring to its “elongate, shallow and somewhat compressed” body shape

Nemacheilus arenicolus Kottelat 1998 arena (L.), sand; -colus (L.), dwelling in, referring to its sandy substrate habitat

Nemacheilus argyrogaster Kottelat 2021 argýreios (Gr. ἀργύρειος), silver; gastḗr (Gr. γαστήρ), belly, referring to “striking” silvery white belly in life

Nemacheilus banar Freyhof & Serov 2001 named for the “friendly people” of the Ba Nar ethnic community, Kontum Province, Vietnam, type locality

Nemacheilus binotatus Smith 1933 bi-, from bis (L.), twice; notatus (L.). marked, referring to two short vertical bars on body over distal half of pectoral fins

Nemacheilus cacao Bohlen, Kottelat & Šlechtová 2022 named for the cacao tree Theobroma cacao, whose seeds are used to produce chocolate, referring to the chocolate-brown color of large males

Nemacheilus chrysolaimos (Valenciennes 1846) chrysós (Gr. χρυσός), gold; laimós (Gr. λαιμός), throat, presumably referring to the golden color of its barbels

Nemacheilus cleopatra Freyhof & Serov 2001 named for the “brilliant” Queen of Egypt (69 BC–30 BC), comparing her “legendary beauty” to this loach’s “elegant and beautiful” appearance

Nemacheilus corica (Hamilton 1822) Latinization of Khorika, Bengali vernacular for this species

Nemacheilus elegantissimus Chin & Samat 1992 superlative of elegans (L.), tasteful, fine, choice or select, authors say “most beautiful,” referring to its “graceful appearance” in life

Nemacheilus fasciatus (Valenciennes 1846) Latin for banded, referring to a “score of small transversal black stripes down the back which vanish under the belly” (translation)

Nemacheilus jaklesii (Bleeker 1852) in honor of Bleeker’s friend and colleague P. Jakles, Surgeon Lieutenant Colonel, Dutch East Indian Army, who collected holotype [species inquirenda, provisionally included here]

Nemacheilus kaimurensis Husain & Tilak 1998 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Kaimur Range, Uttar Pradesh, India, type locality

Nemacheilus kapuasensis Kottelat 1984 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Kapuas River drainage, Kalimantan Barat, Sarawak, type locality

Nemacheilus longipectoralis Popta 1905 longus (L.), long; pectoralis (L.), pectoral, referring to its elongated pectoral fins, extending beyond ventral-fin base

Nemacheilus longipinnis Ahl 1922 longus (L.), long; pinnis, Neo-Latin adjective of pinna (L.), fin, i.e., finned (but treated as a noun), referring to long dorsal fin rays, the first ray longer than length of head

Nemacheilus longistriatus Kottelat 1990 longus (L.), long; striatus (L.), furrowed or grooved (i.e., striped), referring to longitudinal black stripe

Nemacheilus marang Hadiaty & Kottelat 2010 named for Sungai Marang, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, type locality

Nemacheilus masyae Smith 1933 in honor of ichthyologist-illustrator Luang Masya Chitrakarn (1896–1965, also known as Prasop Teeranunt), Siamese Department of Fisheries, for his interest and zeal in the study of Thai fishes and his skill in portraying them with pen and brush (he also helped collect holotype) [although named after a man, “ae” is, per Latin grammar, a nomenclaturally acceptable way to form a genitive from nouns that end in “a”]

Nemacheilus monilis Hora 1921 Latin for necklace or collar, referring to the “peculiar moniliform band of black pigment on either side”

Nemacheilus olivaceus Boulenger 1894 Latin for olive-colored, referring to its yellow-brown coloration

Nemacheilus ornatus Kottelat 1990 Latin for ornate or embellished, referring to black stripes and blotches on a yellowish background

Nemacheilus pallidus Kottelat 1990 Latin for pale or pallid, referring to its yellowish body [treated as a junior synonym of N. masyae by some workers]

Nemacheilus papillos Tan & Kottelat 2009 papilla (L.), bud; os (L.), mouth, referring to strongly papillated lips

Nemacheilus paucimaculatus Bohlen & Šlechtová 2011 pauci-, from paucus (L.), few; maculatus (L.), spotted, referring to low number of lateral and dorsal blotches compared with most congeners in the N. fasciatus species group

Nemacheilus pezidion Kottelat 2022 pezídion (Gr. πεζίδιον), ribbon, referring to the black stripe along its flank

Nemacheilus pfeifferae (Bleeker 1853) in honor of Ida Laura Pfeiffer (1797–1858), Austrian traveler and travel writer, who collected holotype

Nemacheilus platiceps Kottelat 1990 platýs (Gr. πλατύς), flat; –ceps (Neo-Latin), headed, referring to depressed head with flat interorbital area

Nemacheilus pullus Kottelat 2023 Latin for dark-colored, blackish or grayish-black, referring to plain yellowish-gray body of adults in life

Nemacheilus saravacensis Boulenger 1894 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Sarawak state, Borneo, East Malaysia, type locality

Nemacheilus selangoricus Duncker 1904 –icus (L.), belonging to: Selangor, one of the Federated Malay States, type locality

Nemacheilus spiniferus Kottelat 1984 spina (L.), thorn; ferus (L.), having or bearing, referring to spine-like extension on posterior portion of lateral line and caudal peduncle scales

Nemacheilus stigmofasciatus Arunachalam & Muralidharan 2009 stígma (Gr. στίγμα), mark or spot; fasciatus (L.), banded, referring to regularly sized blotches alternating with bands on sides

Nemacheilus tebo Hadiaty & Kottelat 2009 named for Lake Tebo drainage, East Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia, where it is endemic

Nemacheilus troglocataractus Kottelat & Géry 1989 trṓglē (Gr. τρώγλη), hole, referring to cave habitat; cataractus, from kataráktēs (Gr. καταράκτης), waterfall, translation of Nam Tok, Thai word for waterfall and name of both cave where it occurs and nearest populated town

Nemacheilus tuberigum Hadiaty & Siebert 2001 tuber (L.), a swelling; [man]gum, large, referring to comparatively large tubercles on either side of lateral line on anterior part of caudal peduncle

Nemacheilus zonatus Page, Pfeiffer, Suksri, Randall & Boyd 2020 Latin for banded or barred, referring to bars along sides of body that cross over back and meet bars on the opposite side

Nemachilichthys Day 1878 Nemachil-, abridgement of Nemacheilus; ichthýs (Gr. ἰχθύς), fish, i.e., a fish similar to Nemacheilus

Nemachilichthys ruppelli (Sykes 1839) in honor of German naturalist and explorer Eduard Rüppell (1794–1884), who looked over Sykes’ drawings and shared his opinions on the genera of fishes [Sykes misspelled the name as “rupelli”; since he correctly spelled Rüppell’s name elsewhere in his paper, the spelling of the epithet should be emended (add the missing “p”), but since he did not place an umlaut over the “u” the spelling should not additionally be emended to “rueppelli” as many have done]

Neonoemacheilus Zhu & Guo 1985 néos (Gr. νέος), new, i.e., a new genus closely related to Nemacheilus

Neonoemacheilus assamensis (Menon 1987) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Assam, India, type locality

Neonoemacheilus labeosus (Kottelat 1982) alternate spelling of labiosus (L.), thick-lipped, referring to its “very thick” lips

Neonoemacheilus mengdingensis Zhu & Guo 1989 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: near Mending, Gengmaxian County, Yunnan Province, China, type locality

Neonoemacheilus morehensis Arunkumar 2000 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: only member of the genus known from the Moreh area of the Yu River system, Manipur, India

Neonoemacheilus peguensis (Hora 1929) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Pegu Yoma hills, east of Irrawaddy River, Myanmar, type locality

Nun Bănărescu & Nalbant 1982 Aramaic (the language of the Talmud) word for fish (in this case, a fish described from Israel) [treated as a synonym of Oxynoemacheilus by some workers]

Nun galilaeus (Günther 1864) –eus (L. suffix), pertaining to: Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberias), Israel, presumed type locality (actually Hula Lake, Jordan River basin) [placed in Oxynoemacheilus by some workers]

Oreonectes Günther 1868 óreos (Gr. ὄρεος), mountain or hill; nḗktēs (Gr. νήκτης), swimmer, referring to type locality of O. platycephalus, near the top of Hong Kong Mountains, China, 4572 m above sea level

Oreonectes andongensis Luo, Yang, Du & Luo 2024 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Andong Town, Xincheng County, Laibin City, Hongshui River system, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, type locality

Oreonectes damingshanensis Yu, Luo, Lan, Xiao & Zhou 2023 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Damingshan Mountains, Guangxi, China, where type locality is situated

Oreonectes guananensis Yang, Wei, Lan & Yang 2011 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: a cave in Guan’an village, Huanjiang County, Guangxi Province, China, type locality

Oreonectes guilinensis Huang, Yang, Wu & Zhao 2019 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Guilin City, Yangshuo County, Guangxi Province, China, type locality

Oreonectes luochengensis Yang, Wu, Wei & Yang 2011 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Luocheng, Guangxi Province, China, type locality

Oreonectes platycephalus Günther 1868 flat-headed, from platýs (Gr. πλατύς), flat, and  kephalḗ (Gr. κεφαλή), head, referring to its “much depressed” head

Oreonectes polystigmus Du, Chen & Yang 2008 many-spotted, from polý (Gr. πολύ), many, and stígma (Gr. στίγμα), mark or spot, referring to numerous dark-brown spots on body

Oxynoemacheilus Bănărescu & Nalbant 1966 oxýs (Gr. ὀξύς), sharp or pointed, proposed as a subgenus of Nemacheilus with pointed snouts

Oxynoemacheilus afrenatus (Battagil 1941) a– (ἀ), Greek privative, i.e., not; frenatus (L.), bridled, proposed as a subspecies of O. frenatus without a stripe across the snout

Oxynoemacheilus amanos Kaya, Yoğurtçuoğlu & Freyhof 2021 named for the Amanus (=Amanos), ancient name of the Nur mountains in the Turkish Hatay Province, where type locality (a spring) is situated

Oxynoemacheilus anatolicus Erk’akan, Özeren & Nalbant 2008 –icus (L.) belonging to: Anatolia (land mass historically known as Asia Minor constituting most of contemporary Turkey), referring to its type locality (inlet of Karamanli Dam lake, Burdur, southwestern Turkey)

Oxynoemacheilus angorae (Steindachner 1897) of Angora, historic name of Ankara, Turkey, near its co-type localities (Tabakane-Sir and Tschibuk-Tschai)

Oxynoemacheilus araxensis (Bănărescu & Nalbant 1978) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Araxes basin, eastern Turkey, type locality

Oxynoemacheilus argyrogramma (Heckel 1847) árgyros (Gr. ἄργυρος), white metal (i.e., silver); gramma, from grammḗ (Gr. γραμμή), line or stroke of the pen, presumably referring to its silvery lateral line (“linea laterali argentea”)

Oxynoemacheilus arsaniasus Freyhof, Kaya, Turan & Geiger 2019 adjectival form of Arsanias, ancient name of Murat River, Turkey, where this loach occurs (also occurs in upper Karasu [Bitlis] River drainage)

Oxynoemacheilus axylos Yoğurtçuoğlu, Kaya & Freyhof 2022 named for Axylos, ancient name of region in Lycaonia, south of Lake Tatta (ancient Lake Tuz), Turkey, encompassing the present-day distribution range of this species

Oxynoemacheilus banarescui (Delmastro 1982) in honor of Petru M. Bănărescu (1921–2009), Institute of Biology, Bucharest, “illustrious” (translation) ichthyologist and naturalist

Oxynoemacheilus bergi (Gratzianov 1907) in honor of Russian ichthyologist Lev (or Leo) Semyonovich Berg (1876–1950), who described but did not name this loach in 1898

Oxynoemacheilus bergianus (Derjavin 1934) –anus (L.), belonging to: the “great and famous” (translation) Russian ichthyologist Lev (also Leo) Semyonovich Berg (1876–1950)

Oxynoemacheilus brandtii (Kessler 1877) in honor of German naturalist Johann Friedrich von Brandt (1802–1879), who provided four of the five specimens Kessler used in his description

Oxynoemacheilus bureschi (Drensky 1928) in honor of Bulgarian entomologist Ivan Yosifov Buresch (also spelled Buresh, 1885–1980), who, through his influence and connections to Tsar Boris III, made it possible for Drensky to collect specimens throughout Bulgaria

Oxynoemacheilus cemali Turan, Kaya, Kalayci, Bayçelebi & Aksu 2019 in honor of Cemal Turan, Iskenderun Technical University (Iskenderun), for his contributions to the molecular exploration of Turkish freshwater fishes

Oxynoemacheilus ceyhanensis (Erk’akan, Nalbant & Özeren 2007) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Ceyhan River basin, Kahramanmaraş Province, Turkey, where it occurs

Oxynoemacheilus chomanicus Kamangar, Prokofiev, Ghaderi & Nalbant 2014 –icus (L.), belonging to: Choman River basin, Kurdistan, Iran, where it is endemic

Oxynoemacheilus ciceki Sungur, Jalili & Eagderi 2017 in honor of Erdoğan Çiçek, Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University, for his “valuable” contribution to the knowledge of freshwater fishes of Turkey

Oxynoemacheilus cilicicus Kaya, Turan, Bayçelebi, Kalayci & Freyhof 2020 –icus (L.), belonging to: Cilicia, ancient name for southern coastal region of Asia Minor, comprising most of what is present-day Turkey, where this loach occurs

Oxynoemacheilus cyri (Berg 1910) of the upper Kura River (Cyrus in Latin), Turkey, type locality

Oxynoemacheilus eliasi Yoğurtçuoğlu, Kaya & Freyhof 2022 in honor of Elias Freyhof, son of the senior author, “who always suffered from the absence of his father being in the field to search for loaches”

Oxynoemacheilus elsae Eagderi, Jalili & Çiçek 2018 in honor of the first author’s daughter, Elsa

Oxynoemacheilus ercisianus (Erk’akan & Kuru 1986) –anus (L.), belonging to: Ercis stream, Lake Van basin, Turkey, type locality

Oxynoemacheilus eregliensis (Bănărescu & Nalbant 1978) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Eregli, southwestern central Turkey, type locality

Oxynoemacheilus euphraticus (Bănărescu & Nalbant 1978) –icus (L.), belonging to: Euphrates River basin of Turkey, type locality

Oxynoemacheilus evreni (Erk’akan, Nalbant & Özeren 2007) in honor of Evren Erk’akan (b. 1987), son of the senior author

Oxynoemacheilus fatsaensis Saygun, Ağdamar & Özuluğ 2021 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Fatsa District, Ordu Province, Turkey, where type locality (Elekçi Stream in the Kösebucağı Village) is situated

Oxynoemacheilus frenatus (Heckel 1843) Latin for bridled, referring to black stripe that extends, bridle-like, from eye to eye across the snout

Oxynoemacheilus germencicus (Erk’akan, Nalbant & Özeren 2007) –icus (L.), belonging to: Germencik, Turkey, type locality

Oxynoemacheilus gyndes Freyhof & Abdullah 2017 ancient Greek name for the Sirvan River, referring to the Sirvan River drainage of Iraqi Kurdistan, where it occurs

Oxynoemacheilus hamwii (Krupp & Schneider 1991) in honor of the late Adel Hamwi, Professor of Zoology, University of Damascus, for his contributions to Syrian zoology and for helping the authors in the field

Oxynoemacheilus hanae Freyhof & Abdullah 2017 in honor of Hana Ahmad Raza (b. 1987), biologist and conservationist, who works for Nature Iraq in Sulaymaniyah and accompanied the senior author during fieldwork in Iraqi Kurdistan

Oxynoemacheilus hazarensis Freyhof & Özuluğ 2017 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Lake Hazar, Turkey, where it may be endemic

Oxynoemacheilus insignis (Heckel 1843) Latin for remarkable, notable or distinguished by a mark, probably referring to its black-marble body color pattern

Oxynoemacheilus isauricus Yoğurtçuoğlu, Kaya, Özuluğ & Freyhof 2021 –icus, belonging to: Isauria, ancient name for a region in Central Anatolia where type locality (Stream Çeltek, Isparat Province, Turkey) is situated

Oxynoemacheilus karunensis Freyhof 2016 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Karun River, one of two Iranian rivers (the other is the River Jarahi) where it occurs

Oxynoemacheilus kaynaki Erk’akan, Özeren & Nalbant 2008 in honor of Hüseyin Kaynak, father of senior author

Oxynoemacheilus kentritensis Freyhof, Kaya & Turan 2017 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Kentrites, historic name of Botan River, Turkey, where this loach occurs

Oxynoemacheilus kiabii Golzarianpour, Abdoli & Freyhof 2011 in honor of Iranian zoologist Bahram H. Kiabi, Shahid Beheshti University, for his contribution to the conservation of Iranian vertebrates, especially fishes

Oxynoemacheilus kurdistanicus Kamangar, Prokofiev, Ghaderi & Nalbant 2014 –icus (L.), belonging to: Kurdistan, Iran, where it is endemic

Oxynoemacheilus leontinae (Lortet 1883) etymology not explained, presumably from léontos (Gr. λέοντος), lion, i.e., leontine, referring to its high, rounded head, which may resemble a lion’s mane (note that Heckel named O. panthera and O. tigris after big cats in 1843, perhaps setting a nomenclatural precedent that Lortet chose to follow)

Oxynoemacheilus longipinnis (Coad & Nalbant 2005) longus (L.), long; pinnis, Neo-Latin adjective of pinna (L.), fin, i.e., finned (but treated as a noun), referring to its long paired fins, dorsal fin with 10 branched rays, and/or “well forked” caudal fin [treated as a synonym of O. bergianus by some workers]

Oxynoemacheilus marmaraensis Turan, Bayçelebi & Kalaycı 2023 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Marmara Sea Basin and the Marmara Region, Balıkesir Province, Turkey, where it occurs

Oxynoemacheilus marunensis Sayyadzadeh & Esmaeili 2020 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Marun River at Kharestan, Khuzestan province, Iran, only known area of occurrence

Oxynoemacheilus mediterraneus (Erk’akan, Nalbant & Özeren 2007) named for its occurrence in the Mediterranean basin of Turkey

Oxynoemacheilus melenicus Turan, Aksu & Kalayci 2023 –icus (L.), belonging to: Büyükmelen (Big Melena) River, Turkey, one of two rivers in which it was found

Oxynoemacheilus merga (Krynicki 1840) incorrect spelling of mergae (L.), two-pronged pitchfork, presumably referring to its crescent-shaped caudal fin

Oxynoemacheilus muefiti Freyhof, Kaya, Turan & Geiger 2019 in honor of ichthyologist Müfit Özuluğ, Istanbul University, for his “strong support” of the authors’ work over many years

Oxynoemacheilus namiri (Krupp & Schneider 1991) of namir, Arabic word for tiger, referring to its color pattern, which usually consists of dark crossbars

Oxynoemacheilus nasreddini Yoğurtçuoğlu, Kaya & Freyhof 2021 in honor of Nasreddin Hodja, an “iconic character and wise man who is famous for his funny anecdotes and take-home messages”; he is believed to have lived and died in 13th century Turkey, where this loach is endemic

Oxynoemacheilus oxianus (Kessler 1877) –anus (L.), belonging to: Oxua River, ancient name for Amu Darya, Uzbekistan, type locality

Oxynoemacheilus panthera (Heckel 1843) Latin for panther, referring to its leopard-like pattern of spots and markings on body

Oxynoemacheilus parvinae Sayyadzadeh, Eagderi & Esmaeili 2016 in honor of the “famous Persian poet of Iran,” Parvin E’tesami (1907–1941) [treated as a synonym of O. bergianus by some workers]

Oxynoemacheilus paucilepis (Erk’akan, Nalbant & Özeren 2007) paucus (L.), few; lepίs (Gr. λεπίς), scale, named for the “distrubition [sic] of the scales on its body,” but scales are not mentioned in the description

Oxynoemacheilus persa (Heckel 1847) Latin for a Persian, referring to distribution in Iran, where it is endemic

Oxynoemacheilus pindus (Economidis 2005) named for the Pindus range, the “back bone of Greece” and source of the Aoos River drainage, where this loach occurs

Oxynoemacheilus phasicus Freyhof, Kaya, Epitashvili & Geiger 2021 –icus (L.), belonging to: Phasis, Greek name of the Rioni River drainage, Georgia, where type locality (Dzirula River) is situated

Oxynoemacheilus sakaryaensis Turan, Aksu & Kalayci 2023 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Sakarya River drainage, Turkey, where it is endemic

Oxynoemacheilus samanticus (Bănărescu & Nalbant 1978) –icus (L.), belonging to: Samanti River drainage, southern Turkey, type locality [treated as a synonym of O. bergianus by some workers]

Oxynoemacheilus sarus Freyhof, Yoğurtçuoğlu & Kaya 2021 named for Sarus, Roman name of the Seyhan River, Turkey, in whose drainage this loach occurs

Oxynoemacheilus seyhanensis (Bănărescu 1968) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: upper Seyhan River basin, Turkey, where it appears to be endemic

Oxynoemacheilus seyhanicola (Erk’akan, Nalbant & Özeren 2007) -cola (L.), dweller or inhabitant, i.e., that which lives in the Seyhan River basin, Turkey

Oxynoemacheilus shehabi Freyhof & Geiger 2021 in honor of Adwan Shehab (1967–2015), “one of Syria’s most active and renowned zoologists, who hosted and logistically enabled our team during our field-work in Syria in 2008,” when holotype was collected; Adwan was killed in the streets of Dara’a as a result of the bloody conflict in Syria

Oxynoemacheilus simavicus (Balik & Bănărescu 1978) –icus (L.), belonging to: Simav, a stream in Balikesir, Turkey, type locality

Oxynoemacheilus theophilii Stoumboudi, Kottelat & Barbieri 2006 in honor of Theophilus Chatzimichael (1873–1934), a prominent folk painter from Lesbos Island, Greece, where this loach is endemic

Oxynoemacheilus tigris (Heckel 1843) tígris (Gr. τίγρις), tiger, probably referring to tiger-like stripes on yellowish-white body

Oxynoemacheilus tongiorgii (Nalbant & Bianco 1998) in honor of Italian zoologist Paolo Tongiorgi (1936–2018), University of Modena, friend, colleague and co-editor of the Italian Journal of Zoology, for his help in the final editing of the special volume in which this description appeared

Oxynoemacheilus veyselorum Çiçek, Eagderi & Sungur 2018 in honor of Veysel Çiçek, name of both father and son of the lead author [originally spelled veyseli; emendment to veyselorum, since it honors more than one person, is in prevailing usage]

Oxynoemacheilus zagrosensis Kamangar, Prokofiev, Ghaderi & Nalbant 2014 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Zagros Mountains, which occur in Kurdistan, Iran, where it is endemic

Oxynoemacheilus zarzianus Freyhof & Geiger 2017 –anus (L.), belonging to: Zarzian, an archaeological culture of late Paleolithic and Mesolithic in Iraqi Kurdistan, where this loach occurs

Paracanthocobitis Grant 2007 pará (Gr. παρά), beside or near, proposed as a subgenus of Acanthocobitis

Paracanthocobitis abutwebi Singer & Page 2015 in honor of Abu Tweb Abu Ahmed, University of Dhaka, for his contributions to the study of hillstream fishes of Bangladesh

Paracanthocobitis adelaideae Singer & Page 2015 in honor of Adelaide Singer, daughter of the first author, born during this study

Paracanthocobitis aurea (Day 1872) Latin for golden, presumably referring to fins and barbels a “deep orange colour”

Paracanthocobitis botia (Hamilton 1822) etymology not explained, possibly derived from balli-potiah, an Assamese name for this species; several aquarium websites state that Botia is a “regional Asian” word for warrior or soldier (perhaps alluding to its suborbital spine) but do not provide a source

Paracanthocobitis canicula Singer & Page 2015 diminutive of canis (L.), dog, i.e., a little dog, referring to the canine-molar-like shape of its dark dorsal saddles

Paracanthocobitis epimekes Dvořák, Bohlen, Kottelat & Šlechtová 2022 epimḗkēs (Gr. ἐπιμήκης), longish or oblong, referring to its elongated body

Paracanthocobitis hijumensis Rime, Tamang & Das 2022 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Hijum River, West Siang District, Arunachal Pradesh, India, type locality

Paracanthocobitis linypha Singer & Page 2015 unnecessarily feminized spelling of linyphus (L.), linen weaver, referring to narrow bars on side, which suggest a sewing needle in motion

Paracanthocobitis mackenziei (Chaudhuri 1910) in honor of M. Mackenzie, a cattle farmer in Siriour, Bangladesh, who collected part of type series and other fishes for Chaudhuri

Paracanthocobitis maekhlongensis Singer & Page 2015 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Mae Khlong River in western Thailand, where it appears to be endemic

Paracanthocobitis mandalayensis (Rendahl 1948) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Mandalay, Myanmar, type locality

Paracanthocobitis marmorata Singer, Pfeiffer & Page 2017 Latin for marbled, referring to “marmorated” pattern on nape and between dorsal saddles and lateral blotches in lieu of black stripe along sides of body typical of other members of the P. zonalternans complex

Paracanthocobitis mooreh (Sykes 1839) local name among Maratha fishermen of India, which, as Sykes explained in 1841, he adopted “so that naturalists who travel the country can always obtain” the species

Paracanthocobitis nigrolineata Singer, Pfeiffer & Page 2017 nigro-, from niger (L.), dark or black; lineata (L.), lined, referring to black stripe along sides of body

Paracanthocobitis phuketensis (Klausewitz 1957) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Phuket Island, Thailand, type locality

Paracanthocobitis pictilis (Kottelat 2012) Latin for “embroided” (a rare, obsolete spelling of “embroidered”), referring to dark-brown triangular saddles on upper half of body

Paracanthocobitis putaoensis Lin, Chen & Chen 2023 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Putao District, Kachin State, Myanmar, where type locality (Tanjar Stream) is situated

Paracanthocobitis rubidipinnis (Blyth 1860) rubeus (L.), dark red; pinnis, Neo-Latin adjective of pinna, fin, i.e., finned (but treated as a noun), referring to its fins “tinged with red”

Paracanthocobitis triangula Singer, Pfeiffer & Page 2017 Latin for triangular, referring to small black triangular blotch in ocellus on upper margin of caudal peduncle

Paracanthocobitis urophthalma (Günther 1868) tail-eyed, from ourá (Gr. οὐρά), tail, and ophthalmós (Gr. ὀφθαλμός), eye, referring to black white-edged ocellus (eyespot) on base of upper caudal lobe

Paracanthocobitis zonalternans (Blyth 1860) zona (L.), band; alternans (L.), alternating, referring to 12 short transverse bands along lateral streak which alternate with ~12 dark bands across dorsum

Paracobitis Bleeker 1863 pará (Gr. παρά), beside or near, referring to similarity to Cobitis, in which type species (P. malapterura) had been placed

Paracobitis abrishamchianoi Mousavi-Sabet, Vatandoust, Geiger & Freyhof 2019 in honor of Mir-Jafar Abrishamchian (1930–2018) and his son Ali Abrishamchian (1954–2007), “great benefactors” in Guilan Province (Iran), for their “developmental services in support of the University of Guilan and its students” [preferably spelled abrishamchianum since name honors more than one person, but ICZN 32.5.1 forbids such a correction]

Paracobitis atrakensis Esmaeili, Mousavi-Sabet, Sayyadzadeh, Vatandoust & Freyhof 2014 -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Atrak River, Iran, type locality

Paracobitis basharensis Freyhof, Esmaeili, Sayyadzadeh & Geiger 2014 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Bashar River, Iran, type locality

Paracobitis ghazniensis (Bănărescu & Nalbant 1966) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Ghazni River at Ghazni, tributary of Ab-i-Istadah Lake, Helmand River drainage, Afghanistan, type locality

Paracobitis hircanica Mousavi-Sabet, Sayyadzadeh, Esmaeili, Eagderi, Patimar & Freyhof 2015 -ica (L.), belonging to: Hyrcania, Greek name for the southern Caspian Sea region (now in Iran), where it occurs

Paracobitis longicauda (Kessler 1872) longus (L.), long; cauda (L.), tail, referring to its long caudal peduncle, ~4.5–4.6 times in SL

Paracobitis malapterura (Valenciennes 1846) mala-, from malakós (Gr. μαλακός), soft; pterus, from pterón (Gr. πτερόν) or ptéryx (πτέρυξ), fin; ura, from ourá (Gr. οὐρά), tail (but treated as an adjective, tailed), probably referring to its dorsal adipose keel

Paracobitis molavii Freyhof, Esmaeili, Sayyadzadeh & Geiger 2014 in honor of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi (1207–1273), also known as Molavi, a Persian poet, theologian and Sufi mystic

Paracobitis persa Freyhof, Esmaeili, Sayyadzadeh & Geiger 2014 named for Fârs (known in Old Persian as Pârsâ, or Persia), Iranian province where it is endemic

Paracobitis rhadinaea (Regan 1906) rhadinaeus (sometimes spelled rhadineus), from rhadinós (Gr. ῥαδινός), slender, lithe or tapering, presumably referring to its elongate body

Paracobitis salihae Kaya, Turan, Kalayci, Bayçelebi & Freyhof 2020 in honor of Saliha Kaya (1939–2015), mother of the first author

Paracobitis starostini (Parin 1983) in honor of hydrobiologist I. V. Starostin, who studied the inland waters of Turkmenistan, where this species is endemic

Paracobitis zabgawraensis Freyhof, Esmaeili, Sayyadzadeh & Geiger 2014 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: headwater stream of Great Zab River (the Zab Gawra in Kurdish), Iraqi Kurdistan, type locality

Paranemachilus Zhu 1983 pará (Gr. παρά), beside or near, similar to Nemacheilus but differing in having scales on sides of head [correct spelling is Paranemachilus not Paranemacheilus; no inadvertent error in original description]

Paranemachilus genilepis Zhu 1983 génys (Gr. γένυς), jaw (usually the cheek or lower jaw in ichthyology); lepίs (Gr. λεπίς), scale, referring to scales on sides of head

Paranemachilus jinxiensis (Zhu, Du & Chen 2009) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Jingxi County (but spelled Jinxi in the name), Guangxi, China, Pearl River drainage, type locality

Paranemachilus pingguoensis Gan 2013 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Pingguo County, Guangxi Province, China, type locality

Paranemachilus zhengbaoshani (Zhu & Cao 1987) in honor of Zheng Baoshan, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Beijing Museum of Natural History, for his contributions to Chinese ichthyology

Paraschistura Prokofiev 2009 pará (Gr. παρά), beside or near, referring to its similarity to Schistura

Paraschistura abdolii Freyhof, Sayyadzadeh, Esmaeili & Geiger 2015 in honor of Ashgar Abdoli, Iranian fish ecologist, who collected this loach with the senior author in 2007

Paraschistura alepidota (Mirza & Bănărescu 1970) á- (ἄ), Greek privative, i.e., not; lepidōtós (λεπιδωτός), scaly, referring to its scaleless body

Paraschistura alta (Nalbant & Bianco 1998) Latin for high, referring to its deep body

Paraschistura aredvii Freyhof, Sayyadzadeh, Esmaeili & Geiger 2015 in honor of Aredvi Sura Anahita, Avestan name of Indo-Iranian cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of “the Waters” and hence associated with fertility, healing and wisdom

Paraschistura bampurensis (Nikolskii 1900) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Bampur River near Bazman, Iran, co-type locality

Paraschistura cristata (Berg 1898) Latin for crested, referring to dermal fold or crest that begins shortly in front of anal-fin origin level and reaches root of caudal fin

Paraschistura delvarii Mousavi-Sabet & Eagderi 2015 in honor of Rais-Ali Delvari (1882–1915), an anti-colonialist in Bushehr, Iran, type locality, now remembered as a national hero of Iran

Paraschistura hormuzensis Freyhof, Sayyadzadeh, Esmaeili & Geiger 2015 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Straight of Hormuz, between Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, referring to type locality (tributary of Minab River, Iran, which flows into the Strait)

Paraschistura ilamensis Vatandoust & Eagderi 2015 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Ilam Province, Tigris River basin, Iran, type locality

Paraschistura kermanensis Sayyadzadeh, Teimori & Esmaeili 2019 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Kerman province, Iran, type locality

Paraschistura kessleri (Günther 1889) patronym not identified but clearly in honor of German-Russian zoologist Karl Federovich Kessler (1815–1881), who described several loaches from the former Russian Empire

Paraschistura lepidocaulis (Mirza & Nalbant 1981) lepídos (Gr. λεπίδος), genitive of lepίs (λεπίς), scale; caulis (L.), stalk or stem (i.e., caudal peduncle), referring to a few isolated scales on caudal peduncle on an otherwise scaleless fish

Paraschistura lindbergi (Bănărescu & Mirza 1965) in honor of the late Knut Carl Lindberg (1892–1962), a Swedish physician with strong interests in tropical medicine and zoology, who collected holotype

Paraschistura makranensis Eagderi, Mousavi-Sabet & Freyhof 2019 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Makran, ancient Persian word for area along coast of Oman Sea (or Gulf of Oman), where type locality (Jegin River drainage in southern Iran) is situated

Paraschistura microlabra (Mirza & Nalbant 1981) micro-, from mikrós (Gr. μικρός), small; labra, unnecessarily feminized spelling of labrum (L.), lip, referring to small mouth opening, smaller than those of its presumed congeners in Schistura

Paraschistura naseeri (Ahmad & Mirza 1963) patronym not identified; based on junior author’s dedication of Barilius naseeri (Danionidae) in 1986, it seems he honored his professor and co-author Khan Naseerud-Din Ahmad (Government College, Lahore, Pakistan) but did not specify solo authorship, therefore the senior author of the name is the same person whom the name honors

Paraschistura naumanni Freyhof, Sayyadzadeh, Esmaeili & Geiger 2015 in honor of Clas M. Naumann zu Königsbrück (1939–2004), former director of Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander König (Germany) and for some years the senior author’s supervisor; he “deeply loved Iran [where this loach is endemic], its people, nature and culture”

Paraschistura nielseni (Nalbant & Bianco 1998) in honor of Danish ichthyologist Jørgen G. Nielsen (b. 1932), Zoological Museum of Copenhagen, for his work and especially for help offered to the senior author

Paraschistura pakistanica (Mirza & Bănărescu 1969) –ica (L.), belonging to: Pakistan, where it is endemic [placed in Schistura by some workers]

Paraschistura prashari (Hora 1933) in honor of Hora’s friend Mr. Prashar Bhatia, who collected holotype in 1919

Paraschistura punjabensis (Hora 1923) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Punjab, Pakistan, type locality

Paraschistura susiani Freyhof, Sayyadzadeh, Esmaeili & Geiger 2015 in honor of the Susian people; Susa was an ancient city (back to 4200 BC) of the Elamite, Persian and Parthian empires of Iran, an area now located in the lower Zagros Mountains of Khuzestan Province, type locality [preferably spelled susianorum since name honors multiple people, but ICZN 32.5.1 forbids such a correction]

Paraschistura turcmenica (Berg 1931) –ica (L.), belonging to: Turkmenistan, type locality

Paraschistura turcomana (Nikolskii 1947) –ana (L.), belonging to: Turkmenistan, type locality

Petruichthys Menon 1987 Petru, probably in honor of Romanian loach taxonomist Petru M. Bănărescu (1921–2009), Institute of Biology, Bucharest, whom Menon acknowledges; ichthýs (Gr. ἰχθύς), fish

Petruichthys brevis (Boulenger 1893) Latin for short, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its short length (type specimens up to 5.8 cm TL)

Petruichthys salmonides (Chaudhuri 1911) –oides, Neo-Latin from eíd̄os (Gr. εἶδος), form or shape: salmon or trout, its color and shape having “some superficial resemblance to a young trout”

Physoschistura Bănărescu & Nalbant 1982 physo, from phýsa (Gr. φύσα), bladder, i.e., a Schistura with a free posterior air-bladder chamber

Physoschistura brunneana (Annandale 1918) –ana (L.), belonging to: Charles Edward Browne (1861–?, Latinized as brunne), Political Advisor in Yawnghwe (now Nyaung Shwe), Myanmar, to whom Annandale was “indebted for much assistance on his tour” of Inlé Lake, type locality

Physoschistura elongata Sen & Nalbant 1982 Latin for prolonged, referring to elongate, slender body, with nearly horizontal dorsal profile

Physoschistura mango Conway & Kottelat 2023 named for the Mango tree Mangifera indica, comparing the orange-yellow flesh of its fruit to the bright orange-reddish background color of mature males

Physoschistura pseudobrunneana Kottelat 1990 pseudo-, from pseúdēs (Gr. ψεύδης), false, i.e., although this species may resemble P. brunneana, such an appearance is false

Physoschistura ranikhetensis Singh & Das 2019 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: near Ranikhet, Uttarakhand, India, type locality

Physoschistura raoi (Hora 1929) in honor of H. Srinivasa Rao (1894–1971), Zoological Survey of India, who helped collect holotype [originally spelled raoe; emendment to raoi, since it is named for a woman, is in prevailing usage]

Physoschistura rivulicola (Hora 1929) rivulus, diminutive of rivus (L.), stream or brook, i.e., rivulet; –cola (L.), dweller or inhabitant, referring to its preferred habitat

Physoschistura shuangjiangensis (Zhu & Wang 1985) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Shuangjiang County, Yunnan Province, China, type locality [may belong in a new, unnamed genus]

Protonemacheilus Yang & Chu 1990 prṓtos (Gr. πρῶτος), first, reflecting the authors’ belief that this genus is more primitive compared with the closely related Micronemacheilus and Paranemacheilus

Protonemacheilus longipectoralis Yang & Chu 1990 longus (L.), long; pectoralis (L.), pectoral, presumably referring to long pectoral fins (but this character is not mentioned by the authors)

Pteronemacheilus Bohlen & Šlechtová 2011 pterón (Gr. πτερόν), wing or fin, i.e., a Nemacheilus with wing-like fins, referring to skinfolds on pectoral fins of males

Pteronemacheilus lucidorsum Bohlen & Šlechtová 2011 lux (L.), light; dorsum (L.), back, referring to absence of pigmentation along dorsal midline

Pteronemacheilus meridionalis (Zhu 1982) Latin for southern, presumably referring to its distribution in southern Yunnan Province, China

Rhyacoschistura Kottelat 2019 rhýax (Gr. ῥύαξ ), rushing stream or mountain torrent, referring to hillstream habitat of R. larreci and R. suber; Schistura, genus in which R. suber had originally been placed

Rhyacoschistura larreci Kottelat 2019 in honor of LARReC, Living Aquatic Resources Research Center (Vientiane, Laos), for its 20th anniversary, and in appreciation to several of its staff for 20 years of collaboration in the field [see also Schistura thavonei]

Rhyacoschistura maejotigrina (Suvarnaraksha 2012) maejo, referring to 77th anniversary of Maejo University (Chiang Mai, Thailand), where Suvarnaraksha and holotype are located; tigrina (L.), tiger-like, referring to irregular tiger-stripe bars on sides

Rhyacoschistura suber (Kottelat 2000) Latin for cork, referring to its yellowish-gray color

Sasanidus Freyhof, Geiger, Golzarianpour & Patimar 2016 Latinization of Sasanian, referring to Sasanian (or Sassanid) Empire, one of Iran’s most important and influential historical periods (224–651), alluding to the country where this genus is endemic

Sasanidus kermanshahensis (Bănărescu & Nalbant 1966) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Kermanshah, Karun River drainage, western Iran, type locality

Schistura McClelland 1838 schísma (Gr. σχίσμα), split or divided; ourá (Gr. οὐρά), tail, proposed as a subgenus of Cobitis (Cobitidae) with a forked caudal fin

Schistura acuticephala (Hora 1929) sharp-headed, from acutus (L.), sharp or pointed, and  kephalḗ (Gr. κεφαλή), head, referring to its pointed head

Schistura absumbra (Endruweit 2017) absum (L.), to be absent; umbra (L.), shadow, from the mythology of the Wa people (predominant ethnic minority along the China-Myanmar border where this loach occurs), whose mythic ancestors were said to cast no shadows

Schistura afasciata Mirza & Bănărescu 1981 á- (ἄ), Greek privative, i.e., not; fasciata (L.), banded, referring to absence of crossbars on uniformly brownish-gray body

Schistura aizawlensis Lalramliana 2012 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Aizawl, capital city of Mizoram, India, where type locality (Muthi River) is situated

Schistura albirostris Chen & Neely 2012 albus (L.), white; rostris, Neo-Latin scientific adjective of rostrum (L.), snout, referring to unpigmented area on snout

Schistura albisella Kottelat 2017 albus (L.), white; sella (L.), saddle, referring to whitish marks along back

Schistura alboguttata Cao & Zhang 2018 albus (L.), white; guttata (L.), spotted or speckled, referring to irregular white spots scattered over dorsal and lateral regions of body

Schistura alticrista Kottelat 1990 altus (L.), high; crista (L.), crest, referring to strongly developed ventral and dorsal adipose crests of caudal peduncle

Schistura altipedunculata (Bănărescu & Nalbant 1968) altus (L.), high; pedunculata, peduncled, referring to its “remarkable” caudal peduncle, which is slightly deeper than the body

Schistura altuscauda Chen, Myint, Chu & Chen 2020 altus (L.), high; cauda (L.), tail, referring to its high caudal peduncle (14.0–20.3% SL)

Schistura amplizona Kottelat 2000 amplus (L.), large or broad; zona (L.), band or belt, referring to 5–7 broad blackish-brown bars on body, wider than the spaces in between

Schistura anambarensis (Mirza & Bănărescu 1970) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Anambar River at Loralai, eastern Baluchistan, Pakistan, type locality

Schistura andrewi Solo, Lalramliana, Lalrongunga & Lalnuntluanga 2014 in honor of ornamental-fish collector Andrew Arunava Rao, Malabar Tropicals, who helped the authors document the fishes of Mizoram, India, where this loach is apparently endemic

Schistura antennata Freyhof & Serov 2001 Latin for with antennae, referring to its very long rostral barbels, which resemble arthropod antennae

Schistura aramis Kottelat 2000 Aramis, one of the characters in Alexander Dumas’ The Three Musketeers, joining two other Schistura species (athos, porthos) in the Nam Ou basin, northern Laos

Schistura arifi Mirza & Bănărescu 1981 in honor of M. Arif (no other information available), who collected holotype

Schistura ataranensis Dvořák, Bohlen, Kottelat & Šlechtová 2023 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: upper Ataran River basin, Kayin Province, Myanmar, type locality

Schistura athos Kottelat 2000 Athos, one of three of the characters in Alexander Dumas’ The Three Musketeers, joining two other Schistura species (aramis, porthos) in the Nam Ou basin, northern Laos

Schistura atra Kottelat 1998 ater (L.), black, referring to its uniform dark blackish-brown body in alcohol (black in life)

Schistura aurantiaca Plongsesthee, Page & Beamish 2011 Latin for orange-colored, referring to orange bars on sides

Schistura bachmaensis Freyhof & Serov 2001 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Bach Ma National Park, Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam, source of River Thua Luu, type locality

Schistura bairdi Kottelat 2000 in honor of Canadian geographer Ian G. Baird (b. 1966), who had worked on fishes, fisheries and dolphins in southern Laos for several years and who collected holotype

Schistura balteata (Rendahl 1948) Latin for banded or belted, referring to 2–3 thin vertical dark bars below dorsal fin that appear to wrap around the body

Schistura bannaensis Chen, Yang & Qi 2005 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Ban Na, a city on the Lancang River, Yunnan Province, China, type locality

Schistura beavani (Günther 1868) in honor of Lieut. Robert Cecil Beavan (1841–1870), Bengal Staff Corps, who presented holotype to the British Museum (Natural History)

Schistura bhimachari (Hora 1937) in honor of fisheries scientist Brahmananda Srinivasachar Bhimachar (1906–1979), Intermediate College, University of Mysore (Bangalore, India), who collected holotype

Schistura bolavenensis Kottelat 2000 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Bolaven Plateau, Laos, only known area of occurrence

Schistura breviceps (Smith 1945) brevis (L.), short; –ceps (Neo-Latin), headed, “characterized by its comparatively short head”

Schistura bucculenta (Smith 1945) Latin for “with full cheeks,” referring to its “very full and protruding cheeks”

Schistura callichroma (Zhu & Wang 1985) calli-, from kállos (Gr. κάλλος), beauty; chrṓma (Gr. χρῶμα), color, referring to distinctive color pattern comprising 6–9 large, dark-brown patches along lateral line, numerous irregular dark-brown spots on upper surface of head and back, and black band at base of caudal fin

Schistura callidora Bohlen & Šlechtová 2011 calli-, from kállos (Gr. κάλλος), beauty; dora, from dṓron (Gr. δῶρον), gift, i.e., gifted with beauty, presumably referring to 12–17 dark brown bars on body

Schistura carbonaria Freyhof & Serov 2001 Latin for made of coal, referring to its dark coloration

Schistura carletoni (Fowler 1924) in memory of Marcus Manard Carleton (1826–1898), American Presbyterian missionary and commercial fruit grower, who collected many Indian freshwater fishes, including holotype of this one

Schistura cataracta Kottelat 1998 from kataráktēs (Gr. καταράκτης), waterfall, referring to habitat where most specimens were collected

Schistura caudofurca (Mai 1978) caudo-, from cauda (L.), tail; furcatus (L.), forked, referring to caudal fin forked to half its length

Schistura chapaensis (Rendahl 1944) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Chapa, now (Sa Pa or Sapa), Vietnam, type locality

Schistura chindwinica (Tilak & Husain 1990) –ica (L.), belonging to: Chindwin River, Manipur, India, type locality

Schistura chrysicristinae Nalbant 1998 in memory of Romanian entomologist Cristina Ana “Chrysi” or “Crina” Hoinic (1967–1997), a “wonderful friend and colleague. My debts to her are beyond the words.” [she died the day before her 30th birthday after a 12-day coma caused by a medical procedure to see if she was a suitable kidney donor for her twin sister]

Schistura cincticauda (Blyth 1860) cinctus (L.), belted; cauda (L.), tail, referring to thin black bar at base of caudal fin

Schistura clatrata Kottelat 2000 Latin for latticed or barred (author says “with rungs”), probably referring to 9–13 bars on body, wider than spaces in between

Schistura colossa Kottelat 2017 from kolossós (Gr. κολοσσός), a gigantic statue (but applied to anything of enormous size), referring to its size, up to at least 98 mm SL, “a giant among Southeast Asian nemacheilids”

Schistura conirostris (Zhu 1982) etymology not explained, possibly conus, from kṓnos (Gr. κῶνος), cone; rostris, Neo-Latin scientific adjective of rostrum (L.), snout, referring to V-shaped mark on front edge of middle part of lower lip

Schistura coruscans Kottelat 2000 Latin for flaming or flashing, probably referring to uts bright-red dorsal and caudal fins and/or bright yellow-orange anal, pelvic and pectoral fins in life

Schistura crabro Kottelat 2000 Latin for hornet or large wasp, probably referring to its orange body with four dark brown bars and yellow tip of snout

Schistura crassa Kottelat 2017 Latin for thick, stout or corpulent, referring to its “stout” body

Schistura crocotula Plongsesthee, Kottelat & Beamish 2013 Latin name for a saffron-colored dress or garment, referring to this loach’s background color in life

Schistura cryptofasciata Chen, Kong & Yang 2005 cryptos, from kryptόs (Gr. κρυπτός), hidden; fasciata (L.), banded or barred, referring to obscured bars on large individuals

Schistura curtistigma Mirza & Nalbant 1981 curtus (L.), short; stígma (Gr. στίγμα), mark or spot, referring to shorter crossbars compared with the related S. arifi

Schistura dalatensis Freyhof & Serov 2001 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Dalat Mountains, Lam Dong Province, Vietnam, where type locality (stream running into River Dai Tan) is situated

Schistura daubentoni Kottelat 1990 in honor of French ichthyologist François d’Aubenton (1923–2008), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris), who collected holotype in 1964

Schistura dayi (Hora 1935) in honor of Francis Day (1829–1889), Inspector-General of Fisheries in India, who collected holotype (which he identified as S. savona)

Schistura deansmarti Vidthayanon & Kottelat 2003 in honor of British speleologist Dean Smart, who collected most of the type specimens and is a “strong voice” for cave conservation in Thailand

Schistura defectiva Kottelat 2000 Latin for incomplete, imperfect or intermittent, referring to 8–10 bars on body, often “disassociated” into blotches

Schistura denisoni (Day 1867) in honor of William Denison (1804–1871), Governor of Madras, India (now known as Chennai) from 1861 to 1866, “under whose auspices the Indian fish-experiment [the transfer of fishes from the plains of India to the nearly fishless Nilgiri Mountains] was commenced; and during whose governorship, had he continued in Madras, it would most assuredly have been successfully completed”

Schistura desmotes (Fowler 1934) desmṓtēs (Gr δεσμώτης), prisoner or captive, referring to 7–9 broad dark-brown transverse bands on body, reminiscent of a striped prison uniform

Schistura devdevi (Hora 1935) in honor of Indian ichthyologist Dev Dev Mukerji (1903–1937), Zoological Survey of India

Schistura diminuta Ou, Montaña, Winemiller & Conway 2011 verbal adjective of diminuo (L.), to break into small pieces (i.e., diminutive), referring to its small size (19.5 mm SL)

Schistura disparizona Zhou & Kottelat 2005 dispar (L.), unlike or dissimilar; zona (L.), band or girdle, referring to very narrow bars on anterior part of body and wider bars posteriorly

Schistura doonensis (Tilak & Husain 1977) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Doonga District, Dehra Dun, Uttar Pradesh, India, type locality

Schistura dorsizona Kottelat 1998 dorsum (L.), back; zona (L.), band or girdle, referring to black saddles extending from middle of sides across dorsal mid-line

Schistura dubia Kottelat 1990 Latin for uncertain, referring to close similarity to S. sexcauda; since they “occur sympatrically in a few localities,” Kottelat concludes they are valid species

Schistura ephelis Kottelat 2000 éphēlis (Gr. ἔφηλις), freckle, referring to its dotted cheeks

Schistura epixenos Kottelat 2017 Greek (ἐπίξενος) for stranger or from another community, referring to its “stranger” status among the fishes of the Nakai Plateau, Laos (Kottelat did not explain what made the fish “stranger”)

Schistura falamensis Chen, Myint, Chu & Chen 2020 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Falam District, Chin State, Myanmar, type locality (Falam means “refuge for children” in the local Chin language)

Schistura fasciata Lokeshwor & Vishwanath 2011 Latin for banded, referring to dark-brown bars on body

Schistura fascimaculata Mirza & Nalbant 1981 fascia (L.), band or bar; maculata (L.), spotted, referring to 11–15 crossbars and numerous blackish dots on body

Schistura fasciolata (Nichols & Pope 1927) diminutive of fasciata (L.), banded, i.e., with small bands, referring to 11 more or less obscure broad dark bands across back and sides and narrow blackish bar across caudal base

Schistura ferruginea Lokeshwor & Vishwanath 2013 Latin for rust-colored or dusky, referring to patch of dusky pigment deep under skin at mid-lateral line above pectoral fin

Schistura finis Kottelat 2000 Latin for border, referring to its type locality, a small creek at the border between Laos and Vietnam

Schistura fusinotata Kottelat 2000 fusio (L.), fusion; notata (L.), marked, allusion uncertain, perhaps referring to small black spot at base of anterior dorsal rays

Schistura gangetica (Menon 1987) –ica (L.), belonging to: Ganges River basin at Srinagar, Garhwal, Uttar Pradesh, India, type locality

Schistura globiceps Kottelat 2000 globus (L.), globe or sphere; -ceps (Neo-Latin), headed, perhaps referring to swollen cheeks on specimens >40 cm SL

Schistura geisleri Kottelat 1990 in honor of German aquarist Rolf Geisler (1925–2012), for his “valuable help” [may belong in Mustura]

Schistura greenei Endruweit 2017 in honor of Richard Greene, Library Technician, Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC, USA), for his “persistent support over many years”

Schistura harnaiensis (Mirza & Nalbant 1969) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Harnai, Kaman-Beji River drainage, Baluchistan, Pakistan, type locality

Schistura hartli Dvořák, Bohlen, Kottelat & Šlechtová 2023 in honor of nature photographer Andreas Hartl, who collected the type material

Schistura himachalensis (Menon 1987) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Himachal Pradesh, Kangra, India, type locality

Schistura hingi (Herre 1934) in honor of Ah Hing, “efficient collector” for botanist-ornithologist G. A. C. Herklots of Hong Kong University, whose “patience and skill enabled [Herre] to get many specimens”

Schistura hiranyakeshi Praveenraj, Thackeray & Balasubramanian 2020 named for the Hiranyakeshi River drainage in Sindhudurg District of Maharashtra, India, where type locality (a temple pond fed by a natural spring from a laterite cave system) is situated; also, in Sanskrit, hiranyakeshi means “golden hair,” alluding to the golden-yellow coloration and body of adult specimens

Schistura hoai (Nguyen 2005) Latinization of hoa, Vietnamese word for flower, referring to how black and yellow spots on body resemble a field of blooming flowers (Ly Cam Tu, pers. comm.)

Schistura horai (Menon 1952) in honor of Indian ichthyologist Sunder Lal Hora (1896–1955), Director, Zoological Survey of India, who collected holotype in 1926

Schistura huapingensis (Wu & Wu 1992) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Huaping County, Yunnan Province, China, type locality

Schistura huongensis Freyhof & Serov 2001 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: River Huong (Perfume River), Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam, type locality

Schistura hypsiura Bohlen, Šlechtová & Udomritthiruj 2014 high-tailed, from hypsēlós (Gr. ὑψηλός), high, and ourá (Gr. οὐρά), tail, referring to its high caudal peduncle

Schistura imitator Kottelat 2000 Latin for mimic, referring to its “quite similar” color pattern with the sympatric S. khamtanhi

Schistura implicata Kottelat 2000 Latin for complicated or intricate, presumably referring to 8–11 “irregularly shaped and organised” bars on body and/or variable coloration among specimens

Schistura incerta (Nichols 1931) Latin for doubtful, allusion not explained nor evident; perhaps Nichols was unsure of his placing it in the subgenus Homatula

Schistura indawgyiana Kottelat 2017 –ana (L.), belonging to: Lake Indawgyi, Kachin State, Myanmar, type locality

Schistura irregularis Kottelat 2000 Latin for irregular, referring to 7–9 “very irregularly shaped and set” bars on body

Schistura isostigma Kottelat 1998 ísos (Gr. ἴσος), equal; stígma (Gr. στίγμα), mark or brand, referring to regularly sized blotches along middle of sides [may belong in Mustura]

Schistura jarutanini Kottelat 1990 in honor of Thai aquarium-fish dealer Khun Kitipong Juratanin (b. 1958), who collected various new fish species in Thailand, including holotype of this one (his expeditions along the rivers of Southeast Asia inspired his nickname, “Indiana Jones Thailand”)

Schistura kampucheensis Bohlen, Petrtýl, Chaloupková & Borin 2016 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Kampuchea, Khmer name for Cambodia, where it is widespread and possibly endemic

Schistura kangjupkhulensis (Hora 1921) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Kangjupkhul Hills, Manipur Valley, Manipur, India, type locality

Schistura kangrae (Menon 1952) of Kangra Valley, Kangra District, Himachal Pradesh, India, type locality

Schistura kaysonei Vidthayanon & Jaruthanin 2002 in honor of the late Kaysone Phomvihanne (1920–1992), President of Laos PDR

Schistura kengtungensis (Fowler 1936) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Keng Tung, a town close to type locality, Mekong basin, Myanmar (also occurs in Thailand and China)

Schistura khamtanhi Kottelat 2000 in honor of Khamtanh Vatthanatham, Fisheries Programme Officer, Mekong River Commission (Laos), for help during 1999 survey that led to the discovery of this species

Schistura khugae Vishwanath & Shanta 2004 of the Khuga River, Manipur, India, type locality [replacement name for S. macrocephalus, described by the same authors earlier in the year, preoccupied by S. macrocephalus Kottelat 2000]

Schistura kloetzliae Kottelat 2000 in honor of the author’s wife Antoinette Kottelat-Kloetzli, for her help and support during field work in Laos and on other projects

Schistura klydonion Kottelat 2017 klydṓnion (Gr. κλυδώνιον), small wave, ripple or undulation, referring to wavy stripe running along flank between row of saddles and row of bars

Schistura kodaguensis (Menon 1987) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Kodagu District, Karnataka, India, type locality

Schistura kohatensis Mirza & Bănărescu 1981 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Kohat District, Pakistan, type locality

Schistura kohchangensis (Smith 1933) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Koh Chang island, Gulf of Thailand, type locality

Schistura koladynensis Lokeshwor & Vishwanath 2012 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Koladyne (also spelled Kolodyne) River, Mizoram, India, where it is endemic

Schistura kongphengi Kottelat 1998 in honor of Kongpheng Bouakhamvongsa, Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Livestock and Veterinary, for his help with field work in Laos

Schistura kontumensis Freyhof & Serov 2001 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Kontum Province of central Vietnam, main area where it was collected

Schistura kottelati Ho, Hoang & Ngo 2018 in honor of Swiss ichthyologist Maurice Kottelat (b. 1957), for his research on Eurasian freshwater fishes, particularly those of Vietnam (where this loach occurs)

Schistura kuehnei Dvořák, Bohlen, Kottelat & Šlechtová 2023 in honor of German aquarist Jens Kühne (b. 1970), Mahachai Tours (Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand), for his “long-time support” of the authors’ ichthyological work in Southeast Asia

Schistura larketensis Choudhury, Mukhim, Basumatary, Warbah & Sarma 2017 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Larket village, East Jaintia Hills District, Meghalaya, India, type locality; the name is proposed to “encourage the village to take up biodiversity conservation as it is already in the process of constituting a Biodiversity Management Committee under the Indian Biodiversity Act”

Schistura laterimaculata Kottelat 1990 lateralis (L.), of the side; maculata (L.), spotted or blotched, referring to ~10 bars superposed over 5–7 elongate blotches on sides

Schistura latidens Kottelat 2000 latus (L.), wide; dens (L.), tooth, referring to its short and very wide processus dentiformis

Schistura latifasciata (Zhu & Wang 1985) latus (L.), wide; fasciata (L.), banded, referring to 4–6 wide, dark cross bands on body

Schistura leukensis Kottelat 2000 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Nam Leuk, a tributary of Nam Mang, Vientiane Province, Laos, type locality

Schistura liyaiensis Lokeshwor & Vishwanath 2014 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Liyai village, Senapati District, Manipur, India, type locality

Schistura longa (Zhu 1982) Latin for long, referring to its longer body, having more vertebrae than S. vinciguerrae

Schistura machensis (Mirza & Nalbant 1970) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Mach River, tributary of Bolan River, Pakistan, type locality

Schistura macrocephalus Kottelat 2000 macro-, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large; cephalus, from kephalḗ (Gr. κεφαλή), head, referring to the “massive appearance” of its head

Schistura macrolepis Mirza & Bănărescu 1981 macro-, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large; lepίs (Gr. λεπίς), scale, referring to large scales covering entire body

Schistura macrotaenia (Yang 1990) macro-, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large; taenia, from tainía (Gr. ταινία), band or ribbon, referring to 8–12 “wide” (translation) vertical bands on sides

Schistura maculosa Lalronunga, Lalnuntluanga & Lalramliana 2013 Latin for dappled or spotted, referring to numerous black spots on caudal and dorsal fins

Schistura madhavai Sudasinghe 2017 in honor of Sri Lankan evolutionary biologist (and frog taxonomist) Madhava Meegaskumbura, University of Peradeniya (Sri Lanka)

Schistura magnifluvis Kottelat 1990 magnus (L.), great; fluvius (L.), river, referring to the Mekong, the largest river in Southeast Asia, where this loach occurs

Schistura mahnerti Kottelat 1990 in honor of Austrian zoologist Volker Mahnert (1943–2008), Museum d’Histoire Naturelle, Département d’Herpétologie et Ichthyologie (Geneva), for his help at various stages of Kottelat’s monograph

Schistura malaisei Kottelat 1990 in honor of Swedish entomologist René Malaise (1892–1978), who collected holotype and to whom we owe “one of the best fish collections from Burma (1933–1935) where he visited numerous remote localities”

Schistura manipurensis (Chaudhuri 1912) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Manipur, India, where type locality (Chindwin basins of Nagaland and Assam) is situated

Schistura megalodon Endruweit 2014 mégas (Gr. μέγας), big; odon, Latinized and grammatically adjusted from the Greek nominative ὀδούς (odoús), tooth, referring to large processus dentiformes in upper jaw

Schistura melarancia Kottelat 2000 old Italian word from which modern-day “orange” is derived, referring to orange-brown body and fin coloration in life

Schistura menanensis (Smith 1945) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Mae Nam Nan (a river, also spelled Menam Nan), Thailand, type locality

Schistura minuta Vishwanath & Shanta Kumar 2006 Latin for small, referring to its small size (up to 44.7 mm SL)

Schistura mizoramensis Lalramliana, Lalronunga, Vanramliana & Lalthanzara 2014 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Mizoram state, India, type locality

Schistura mobbsi Kottelat & Leisher 2012 in honor of cave diver Jerry Mobbs, discoverer and first explorer of the Phuong Hoang cave system, Vietnam, where this loach occurs

Schistura moeiensis Kottelat 1990 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Man Nam Moei, a tributary of the Salween, Thailand and Burma, where it appears to be endemic

Schistura montana McClelland 1838 Latin for pertaining to mountains, referring to its occurrence in the mountain streams of Simla, India

Schistura mukambbikaensis (Menon 1987) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Mukambbika, Karnataka, India, type locality

Schistura multifasciata (Day 1878) multus (L.), many; fasciata (L.), banded, referring to “numerous” vertical bands between head and dorsal fin, five vertical bands behind dorsal fin, and dark band at caudal-fin base

Schistura musa Kottelat 2017 Musa, genus name of the bananas, referring to the curved shape of preserved specimens

Schistura myaekanbawensis Dvořák, Bohlen, Kottelat & Šlechtová 2023 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Myaekanbaw region of Myanmar, where type locality (Kami Chaung, a shallow stream in the upper Tanintharyi drainage) is situated

Schistura myrmekia (Fowler 1935) myrmēkiá (Gr. μυρμηκιά), afflicted with warts, referring to small, wart-like flap or spine below front of eye

Schistura nagaensis (Menon 1987) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Naga Hills, Nagaland, India, type locality

Schistura nagodiensis Sreekantha, Gururaja, Rema Devi, Indra & Ramachandra 2006 -ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Nagodi, tributary of the Sharavathi River, central Western Ghats, India, type locality

Schistura namboensis Freyhof & Serov 2001 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Nam Bo, Vietnamese name for area equivalent to Cochinchina of former colonial literature, referring to wide distribution covering coastal rivers of southern and central Vietnam

Schistura nandingensis (Zhu & Wang 1985) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Nanding River drainage, Yunxian County, Yunnan Province, China, type locality

Schistura nasifilis (Pellegrin 1936) nasus (L.), nose; filum (L.), thread, referring to its elongated nasal barbels

Schistura nebeshwari Lokeshwor & Vishwanath 2013 in honor of Indian ichthyologist Kongrailakpam Nebeshwar Sharma, for his assistance to the authors during field work in Mizoram, India

Schistura nicholsi (Smith 1933) in honor of American zoologist John Treadwell Nichols (1883–1958), curator of fishes, American Museum of Natural History, for extensive contributions to the ichthyology of China in general and Chinese loaches in particular

Schistura nilgiriensis (Menon 1987) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Nilgiri District, Tamil Nadu, India, type locality

Schistura nomi Kottelat 2000 in honor of Mr. Nom (forename not given), for his help (driving) during Kottelat’s 1999 field work in Laos

Schistura notasileum Endruweit, Yang & Liu 2016 derived from the Greek notio vasileio, meaning Southern Kingdom, referring to Nanzhao, kingdom that was centered in what is now Dali Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China (where this loach occurs), and flourished during the 8th and 9th centuries

Schistura notostigma (Bleeker 1863) nṓtos (Gr. νῶτος), back; stígma (Gr. στίγμα), mark or spot, referring to black-purple spot at anterior dorsal fin rays

Schistura novemradiata Kottelat 2000 novem (L.), nine; radiata (L.), rayed, referring to 8–9½ (modally 9½) branched dorsal-fin rays

Schistura nubigena Kottelat 2017 nubes (L.), cloud; gena (L.), producing, i.e., one who engenders clouds, referring to white spots on back resulting from partial fusion of bars (nubigena is also a noun meaning cloud-born, but this is not the meaning used here)

Schistura nudidorsum Kottelat 1998 nudus (L.), bare or naked; dorsum (L.), back, referring to its scaleless predorsal area

Schistura obeini Kottelat 1998 in honor of French environmental specialist François Obein, Nam Theun 2 Electricity Consortium (Vientiane, Laos), for his help in the field and for organizing field logistics

Schistura obliquofascia Lokeshwor, Barat, Sati, Darshan, Vishwanath & Mahanta 2012 obliquus (L.), slanting or inclining in direction; fascia (L.), bar or band, referring to 12–14 oblique olivaceous dark bars on body

Schistura oedipus (Kottelat 1988) named for Oedipus, mythic Theban king who tore out his eyes, referring to loach’s degenerate eyes, consisting of a pit in center of skin covering orbit

Schistura orthocauda (Mai 1978) orthós (Gr. ὀρθός), straight; cauda (L.), tail, referring to its truncate caudal fin [species inquirenda, provisionally included here]

Schistura palma Kottelat 2023 Latin for the blade of an oar, referring to the shape of the caudal peduncle and caudal fin in large adults

Schistura pantherina Page, Plongsesthee & Randall 2012 Latin for panther-like, referring to its distinctive panther-like spotted pattern

Schistura papulifera Kottelat, Harries & Proudlove 2007 papula (L.), a small rounded tumor on skin; -fera (L.), having or bearing, referring to lower half of head covered by small skin projections

Schistura paraxena Endruweit 2017 paráxenos (Gr. παράξενος), strange, referring to its “unusual” appearance, i.e., conspicuous peduncular crests along its dorsal and ventral extremities

Schistura paucicincta Kottelat 1990 paucus (L.), few; cincta (L.), belted, referring to 6–7 wide bars on body

Schistura paucifasciata (Hora 1929) paucus (L.), few; fasciata (L.), banded, referring to 3–4 black bars below dorsal fin

Schistura paucireticulata Lokeshwor, Vishwanath & Kosygin 2013 paucus (L.), few; reticulata (L.), net-like, referring to 2–3 small reticulated bars on anterior half of body

Schistura pawensis Bohlen & Šlechtová 2013 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Nam Paw stream, Shan state, Myanmar, type locality

Schistura peninsulae Dvořák, Bohlen, Kottelat & Šlechtová 2023 of the peninsula, i.e., Malay Peninsula, where it widely occurs (also the most southern Schistura to occur there)

Schistura personata Kottelat 2000 Latin for masked, presumably referring to vermiculations on top of head and/or dark spots below eye

Schistura pertica Kottelat 2000 Latin for pole, referring to its long, slender, rounded body

Schistura pervagata Kottelat 2000 Latin for “common, banal” (per the author), allusion not explained nor evident

Schistura phamhringi Shangningham, Lokeshwor & Vishwanath 2014 in honor of the late BD Phamhring Anal (d. 2014, from a heart attack), who collected holotype

Schistura poculi (Smith 1945) of poculum (L.), bowl, referring to Doi Angka (Angka = crow’s bowl), Thailand, type locality

Schistura polytaenia (Zhu 1982) polý- (Gr. πολύ), many; taenia, from tainía (Gr. ταινία), band, referring to numerous thin vertical bands on body

Schistura porocephala Lokeshwor & Vishwanath 2013 pore-headed, from póros (Gr. πόρος), pore, and kephalḗ (Gr. κεφαλή), head, referring to prominent pores in cephalic lateral line system

Schistura porthos Kottelat 2000 Porthos, one of the characters in Alexander Dumas’ The Three Musketeers, joining two other Schistura species (aramis, athos) in the Nam Ou basin, northern Laos

Schistura pridii Vidthayanon 2003 in honor of the late Pridi Bhanomyong (1900–1983), politician, statesman and Thai Prime Minister who founded Thammasart University, “which plays an important role in the development of social sciences in Thailand”

Schistura procera Kottelat 2000 Latin for elongate, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its more streamlined shape compared with some other Laotian congeners

Schistura prolixifasciata Zheng, Yang & Chen 2012 prolixus (L.), long, extended or drawn out; fasciata (L.), banded, referring to 4–7 brown bars on body, wider than the spaces in between

Schistura pseudofasciolata Zhou & Cui 1993 pseudo-, from pseúdēs (Gr. ψεύδης), false, i.e., although this species may resemble S. fasciolata, such an appearance is false

Schistura psittacula Freyhof & Serov 2001 diminutive of psittacus (L.), parrot, from psittakós (Gr. ψιττακός), referring to its broad processes dentiformis, which resembles a parrot’s bill

Schistura pumatensis Nguyen & Nguyen 2007 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Pumat National Park, Nghe An Province, Vietnam, type locality

Schistura puncticeps Bohlen & Šlechtová 2013 punctum (L.), dot or spot; –ceps (Neo-Latin), headed, referring to prominent spots on head

Schistura punctifasciata Kottelat 1998 punctatus (L.), spotted; fasciatus (L.), banded, referring to irregular greyish spots superimposed on 7–11 vertical dark bars

Schistura quaesita Kottelat 2000 Latin, per the author, for “subtle, refined, delicate,” allusion not explained nor evident

Schistura quasimodo Kottelat 2000 named for the hump-backed character in Victor Hugo’s Hunchback of Notre Dame, referring to its sometimes conspicuous dorsal hump

Schistura rajasthanica (Mathur & Yazdani 1971) –ica (L.), belonging to: Rajasthan, India, type locality

Schistura rara (Zhu & Cao 1987) Latin for thin, scattered or dispersed, allusion not explained, possibly referring to thin scattering of tiny scales on belly

Schistura rebuw Choudhury, Dey, Bharali, Sarma & Vishwanath 2019 Nishing (an ethnic community in Arunachal Pradesh, India, where this loach occurs) word referring to a loach-like fish

Schistura reidi (Smith 1945) in honor of Earl D. Reid (1885–1960), Senior Scientific Aid, Division of Fishes, United States National Museum

Schistura reticulata Vishwanath & Nebeshwar Sharma 2004 Latin for net-like, referring to anteriorly reticulated dark-brown bars on body

Schistura reticulofasciata (Singh & Bănărescu 1982) reticulum (L.), net; fasciata (L.), banded, referring to numerous irregular crossbars that form net-like pattern on body

Schistura rikiki Kottelat 2000 French slang meaning wee or pint-sized (also spelled riquiqui), referring to its small size, up to 24.2 mm SL

Schistura robertsi Kottelat 1990 in honor of American ichthyologist Tyson R. Roberts (b. 1940), who collected most of type series

Schistura rosammai (Sen 2009) in honor of Rosamma Mathew, Zoological Survey of India, who collected holotype [preferably spelled rosammae since name honors a woman, but ICZN 32.5.1 forbids such a correction]

Schistura rubrimaculata Bohlen & Šlechtová 2013 ruber (L.), red; maculatus (L.), dotted, referring to red dot on caudal peduncle

Schistura rupecula McClelland 1838 rupes (L.), rock; –cula, from -cola (L.), dweller or inhabitant, referring to its occurrence in mountain streams in Simla, India

Schistura rupecula inglisi (Hora 1935) in honor of Charles M. Inglis (1870–1954), Scottish naturalist, planter and Curator, Natural History Museum of Darjeeling, India

Schistura russa Kottelat 2000 Latin for russet, referring to its body color in life

Schistura savona (Hamilton 1822) Latinization and abridgement of Savon khorka, Bengali vernacular for this species

Schistura scaturigina McClelland 1839 –ina (L.), belonging to: scaturigo (L.), bubbling spring, allusion unknown, probably referring to its Himilayan stream habitat; name dates to a figure in the Francis Hamilton-Buchanan collection, no types known

Schistura schultzi (Smith 1945) in honor of Leonard P. Schultz (1901–1986), Curator of Fishes, United States National Museum

Schistura scripta Sudasinghe 2018 Latin for written words, referring to pattern of bars on sides, which resemble alphabetical characters

Schistura scyphovecteta Lokeshwor & Vishwanath 2013 scyphus (L.), goblet; vecteta (L.), barred, referring to goblet-shaped bars on body

Schistura semiarmata (Day 1867) semi-, from semis (L.), half; armata (L.), armed with a weapon, referring to “cartilaginous and rudimentary” spine opposite anterior inferior extremity of orbit

Schistura sertata Kottelat 2000 Latin for crowned or garlanded, referring to row of chevron-shaped dots along lateral line

Schistura sexcauda (Fowler 1937) sex (L.), six; cauda (L.), tail, referring to six bars behind dorsal fin (i.e., on caudal peduncle)

Schistura sexnubes Endruweit 2014 sex (L.), six; nubes (L.), cloud, referring to six saddle blotches, “like clouds hanging down the sky”

Schistura shadiwalensis Mirza & Nalbant 1981 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Shadiwal, Pakistan, type locality

Schistura sharavathiensis Sreekantha, Gururaja, Rema Devi, Indra & Ramachandra 2006 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Sharavathi River, western Ghats, India, only known area of occurrence

Schistura shebbearei (Hora 1935) in honor of Hora’s friend Edward Oswald Shebbeare (1884–1964), Conservator of Forests, Bengal, who sent a collection of fishes to the Indian Museum, including holotype of this one

Schistura sigillata Kottelat 2000 Latin for delicately carved, presumably referring to 13–15 narrow bars on body, some of them alternating with narrower and shorter bars, giving the impression of an axial row of blotches

Schistura sijuensis (Menon 1987) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Siju Cave, Garo Hills, Meghalaya, India, type locality

Schistura sikmaiensis (Hora 1921) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Sikmai (a stream), Putao, Myanmar, type locality

Schistura similis Kottelat 1990 Latin for similar, referring to its “absence of trenchant diagnostic characters between numerous species of nemacheiline”

Schistura singhi (Menon 1987) in honor of fish ecologist Kalika Prasad Singh, Banaras Hindu University (Varanasi, India), who collected holotype

Schistura sirindhornae Suvarnaraksha 2015 in honor of Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn (b. 1955) of Thailand on the occasion of her 60th birthday, supporter of various conservation, education, and “protein source security” projects in rural communities, including many in Nan Province, type locality of this species

Schistura sokolovi Freyhof & Serov 2001 in honor of Russian mammalogist Vladimir Evgenievich Sokolov (1928–1988), for “great efforts” in the zoological exploration of central Vietnam

Schistura sombooni Kottelat 1998 in honor of Somboon Phetphommasouk, liaison engineer, Nam Theun 2 Electricity Consortium (Vientiane, Laos), for his assistance and help in the field

Schistura sonlaensis (Nguyen, Nguyen & Hoang 2010) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Son La City, Vietnam, type locality

Schistura spekuli Kottelat 2004 in honor of SPEKUL, Caving Club of the University of Leuven, Belgium

Schistura spiesi Vidthayanon & Kottelat 2003 in honor of John Spies (b. 1956), Australian speleologist and pioneer in ecological and archaeological cave studies and conservation in Thailand, where this species occurs

Schistura spiloptera (Valenciennes 1846) spílos (Gr. σπίλος ), mark or spot; ptera, from pterón (Gr. πτερόν) or ptéryx (πτέρυξ), fin, referring to black spot on first three rays of dorsal fin

Schistura spilota (Fowler 1934) spilōtós (Gr. σπιλωτός), marked or stained, presumably referring to seven variable dark transverse broad bands, often broken as blotches or spots

Schistura stala Endruweit 2017 stála (Gr. στάλα), a drop of liquid, referring to its appearance: anteriorly quite bulbous, the body gradually tapering to the caudal fin

Schistura striata (Day 1867) Latin for grooved or furrowed (i.e., striped), probably referring to “very narrow light-reddish vertical bands, most distinct in the posterior part of the body”

Schistura susannae Freyhof & Serov 2001 in honor of biologist Susanne Klähr, for her help with field work

Schistura syngkai Choudhury, Mukhim, Dey, Warbah & Sarma 2019 Syngkai, a Khasi (an ethnic community of Meghalaya, India, type locality) word for a loach-like fish

Schistura systomos Kottelat 2017 sýstomos (Gr. σύστομος), with a narrow mouth, referring to its very small mouth, possibly the smallest in the family

Schistura tamduongensis Nguyen, Nguyen & Nguyen 2009 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Tam Duong district, Lai Chau Province, Vietnam, type locality

Schistura tenebrosa Kangrang, Page & Beamish 2012 Latin for dark or gloomy, referring to its dusky coloration

Schistura tenura Kottelat 2000 tenuis (L.), slender; ourá (Gr. οὐρά), tail, referring to relatively slender and tapering caudal peduncle [formed as a compound adjective but proposed as an indeclinable noun]

Schistura thanho Freyhof & Serov 2001 named for the “friendly people” of the Tha Nho ethnic community, Binh Dinh Province, Vietnam, type locality

Schistura thavonei Kottelat 2017 in honor of Thavone Phommavong, LARReC, Living Aquatic Resources Research Center (Vientiane, Laos), for “help and companionship during several, and sometimes difficult, fish surveys in Laos” [see also Rhyacoschistura larreci]

Schistura tigrina Vishwanath & Nebeshwar Sharma 2005 Latin for tiger-like, referring to tiger-like striations on body

Schistura tirapensis Kottelat 1990 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Tirap District, Arunachal Pradesh, India, where it is endemic (replacement name for Nemacheilus arunachalensis Menon 1987, preoccupied by N. arunachalensis Datta & Barman 1984)

Schistura titan Kottelat 2017 titán (Gr. τιτάν), one of the Titans (giant deities in Greek mythology), referring to its large size, reaching 95 mm SL, “a giant within Schistura” (most other species <70 mm SL)

Schistura tizardi Kottelat 2000 in honor of Robert Tizard (b. 1971), World Wildlife Fund, “in gratitude for his help at various stages” of Kottelat’s survey of Laotian fishes

Schistura trilineata (Nguyen, Nguyen & Hoang 2010) tri– (L.), three; lineata (L.), lined, referring to dark stripe along back and one on each side of body

Schistura tubulinaris Kottelat 1998 tubus (L.), tube; naris (L.), nostril, referring to anterior nostril at the tip of a short tube

Schistura udomritthiruji Bohlen & Šlechtová 2010 in honor of Thai ornamental-fish trader Kamphol Udomritthirug (b. 1963), who provided the first specimens and for continuous support of the authors’ work on Southeast Asian fishes

Schistura vinciguerrae (Hora 1935) in honor of physician-ichthyologist Decio Vinciguerra (1856–1934), who studied Burmese fishes and described the species (S. multifasciata) with which this species had been identified [although named after a man, “ae” is, per Latin grammar, a nomenclaturally acceptable way to form a genitive from nouns that end in “a”]

Schistura waltoni (Fowler 1937) in honor of American naturalist Joseph Walton (1817–1898), a contributor to the fish collection at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia in its early history

Schistura wanlainensis Kottelat 2017 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Wan Lain Dam village, Kachin State, Myanmar, type locality, and whose inhabitants have established a fish conservation zone

Schistura xhatensis Kottelat 2000 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Nam Xhat, a tributary of the Nam Khan, Laos, type locality

Schistura yersini Freyhof & Serov 2001 in honor of Swiss biologist and humanist Alexandre Yersin (1863–1943), who spent much of his life in southern Vietnam, especially around Dalat, where this species was collected

Schistura yingjiangensis (Zhu 1982) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Yingjiang County, Yunnan Province, China, where type locality (Daying River) is situated

Schistura zonata McClelland 1839 Latin for girdled or banded, referring to green rings that completely encircle body

Sectoria Kottelat 1990 Latinization of sector, referring to mouth structure of S. atriceps, “strongly reminiscent” of “sector mouths” (i.e., a wide inferior mouth with an exposed cornified mandibular cutting edge) of some cyprinids (e.g., Cyprinion, Lobocheilus, Onychostoma), used to scrape aufwuchs from submerged surfaces

Sectoria atriceps (Smith 1945) ater (L.), black; –ceps (Neo-Latin), headed, referring to dark-brown head

Sectoria heterognathos (Chen 1999) héteros (Gr. ἕτερος), different; gnáthos (Gr. γνάθος), jaw, referring to its “abnormal” jaws, broad, thick and strong, without horny edges

Seminemacheilus Bănărescu & Nalbant 1995 semi-, from semis (L.), half, referring to short lateral line of S. lendlii, which was originally described in Nemacheilus

Seminemacheilus ahmeti Sungur, Jalili, Eagderi & Çiçek 2018 in honor of the first author’s brother, Ahmet Sungur, who passed away in an accident at age 27 on 17 June 2017

Seminemacheilus attalicus Yoğurtçuoğlu, Kaya, Geiger & Freyhof 2020 –icus (L.), belonging to: Attalia, historic name of present-day city of Antalya, Antalya Province, Turkey, where type locality (a spring) is situated

Seminemacheilus dursunavsari Çiçek 2020 in honor of marine biologist Dursun Avşar (Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey), for his support as the author’s supervisor [possibly replaced by S. tubae Yoğurtçuoğlu, Kaya, Geiger & Freyhof 2020; see essay in PDF version, link above]

Seminemacheilus ekmekciae Yoğurtçuoğlu, Kaya, Geiger & Freyhof 2020 in honor of Turkish ichthyologist Fitnat Güler Atalay (née Ekmekçi), the first author’s supervisor for 15 years, for her “lasting support” and her contribution to the knowledge of Turkish fishes

Seminemacheilus ispartensis Erk’akan, Nalbant & Özeren 2007 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Isparta Creek, Turkey, type locality

Seminemacheilus lendlii (Hankó 1925) in honor of Hungarian zoologist Adolf Lendl (1862–1943), who collected in Asia Minor (including Turkey, where this species is endemic)

Speonectes Kottelat 2012 spéos (Gr. σπέος), cave, cavern or grotto; nḗktēs (Gr. νήκτης), swimmer, referring to cave habitat of S. tiomanensis

Speonectes tiomanensis (Kottelat 1990) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Pulau Tioman, Malaysia, type locality

Sphaerophysa Cao & Zhu 1988 sphaero, from sphaí̄ra (Gr. σφαῖρα), ball; phýsa (Gr. φύσα), bladder, referring to two halves of air bladder capsule fused into a single, more or less spherical, shape

Sphaerophysa dianchiensis Cao & Zhu 1988 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Dianchi Lake, near Kunming City, China, type locality

Sundoreonectes Kottelat 1990 Sunda, referring to Sunda Archipelago and Sunda Shelf of Southeast Asia, where all species are endemic; Oreonectes, similar to loaches of that genus

Sundoreonectes obesus (Vaillant 1902) Latin for fat, referring to its “heavy, rounded body” [translation]

Sundoreonectes sabanus (Chin 1990) –anus (L.), belonging to: Sabah, Malaysia, where type locality (mountain rapids in Mendolong area, Sipitang District) is situated

Traccatichthys Freyhof & Serov 2001 derived from Cá (=fish) trac cat, name of T. taeniatus in central Vietnam; ichthýs (Gr. ἰχθύς), fish

Traccatichthys bacmeensis (Nguyen & Vo 2005) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Bac Me, Hà Giang, Vietnam, type locality

Traccatichthys pulcher (Nichols & Pope 1927) Latin for beautiful, referring to its “brightly marked” coloration

Traccatichthys taeniatus (Pellegrin & Chevey 1936) Latin for banded, referring to its broad black lateral band

Traccatichthys tuberculum Du, Zhang & Chan 2012 Latin for tubercle, referring to tubercles on dorsal surface of pectoral-fin rays

Traccatichthys zispi (Prokofiev 2004) in honor of the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg (ZISP), which possesses a “unique” collection of nemacheilid loaches

Triplophysa Rendahl 1933 triplo (L.), thrice; phýsa (Gr. φύσα), bladder, referring to how swim bladder of T. hutjertjuensis appears to consist of three parts, a “bony encapsulated diverticulum” and “two elongated bubbles” (translations)

Subgenus Triplophysa

Triplophysa akhtari (Lakshmanan 1950) in honor of Afghan botanist Kazmi Sayed Ali Akhtar (1899–?), University of Kabul, who gave the Zoological Survey of India a “very valuable and interesting” collection of fishes from Afghanistan (including holotype of this one) along with ecological notes [author’s name appeared as “Vijayalakshmanan”; questionably a synonym of T. stolickai]

Triplophysa aliensis (Wu & Zhu 1979) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Ali, Tibet, type locality

Triplophysa aluensis Li & Zhu 2000 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Alu Cave, Luxi County, Yunnan Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa anlongensis Lan, Song, Luo, Zhao, Xiao & Zhou 2023 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Anlong County, Guizhou Province, China, where type locality (a vertical cave in NaNao Village, Xinglong) is situated

Triplophysa anshuiensis Wu, Wei, Lan & Du 2018 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: cave in Anshui Village, Lingyun County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, type locality

Triplophysa angeli (Fang 1941) in honor of French herpetologist Fernand Angel (1881–1950), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris), who was “always interested” (translation) in Fang’s work

Triplophysa anterodorsalis Zhu & Cao 1989 antero- (L.), anterior; dorsalis (Neo-Latin), dorsal, referring to dorsal-fin origin closer to snout than to tail

Triplophysa aquaecaeruleae Prokofiev 2001 gentitive of aqua (L.), water, and caeruleus (L.), dark blue (but used here to mean blue in general), i.e., of “blue water,” referring to Blue River system, Qinghai, China, type locality

Triplophysa baotianensis Li, Li, Liu & Li 2018 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: a cave in Baotian Town, Pan County, Guizhou Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa bashanensis Xu & Wang 2009 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Bashan River, Xixiang County, Shaanxi Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa bellibarus (Tchang, Yueh & Hwang 1963) Latinization of the Anglo-Saxon belly and bar, referring to six transverse brownish bars on abdomen

Triplophysa bleekeri (Sauvage & Dabry de Thiersant 1874) patronym not identified but clearly in honor of Dutch army surgeon and ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker (1819–1878)

Triplophysa brahui (Zugmayer 1912) apparently named for the Brahui, an ethnic group of people found in Baluchistan, Pakistan, type locality

Triplophysa brevibarba Ding 1993 brevis (L.), short; barba (L.), beard, referring to shorter barbels compared with T. stolickai [also known as T. dingi Prokofiev 2010, an unneeded replacement name]

Triplophysa brevicauda (Herzenstein 1888) brevis (L.), short; cauda (L.), tail, referring to short (significantly smaller than head length) caudal peduncle

Triplophysa cakaensis Cao & Zhu 1988 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Cakayanhu Lake drainage near Caka town, Ulanxian County, Qinghai Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa cehengensis Luo, Mao, Zhao, Xiao & Zhou 2023 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Ceheng County, Guizhou Province, China, where type locality (a cave in Longjing Village, Rongdu Town) is situated

Triplophysa chandagaitensis Prokofiev 2002 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Chandagaity River in the village of Chandagaity, Tuva Republic, Russia, type locality [treated as a subspecies or junior synonym of T. gundriseri by some workers; provisionally included here]

Triplophysa chondrostoma (Herzenstein 1888) chóndros (Gr. χόνδρος), gristle or cartilage; stóma (Gr. στόμα), mouth, referring to keratinous covering on jaws

Triplophysa crassilabris Ding 1994 crassus (L.), wide; labrum (L.), lip, referring to thicker, wider lower lip compared with T. tenuicauda

Triplophysa cuneicephala (Shaw & Tchang 1931) wedge-headed, from cuneus (L.), wedge, and kephalḗ (Gr. κεφαλή), head, referring to its “somewhat triangular” head, wider than body

Triplophysa daochengensis Wu, Sun & Guo 2016 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Daocheng River, Daocheng County, Sichuan Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa daqiaoensis Ding 1993 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Daqiao, Mianning County, Sichuan Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa dorsalis (Kessler 1872) Neo-Latin for dorsal, probably referring to its grayish dorsal coloration (Kessler’s vernacular name for this species, translated into English, is “gray-back loach”)

Triplophysa drassensis (Tilak 1990) –ensis, suffix denoting place: a stream near Drass, Ladakh, India, type locality

Triplophysa erythraea Liu & Huang 2019 Latinized from erythrós (Gr. ἐρυθρός), red, referring to blood-red color in life, caused by red blood vessels beneath its colorless and transparent skin

Triplophysa farwelli (Hora 1935) in honor of Major Arthur Evelyn Farwell (1898–1976), Military Attaché to the British Legation at Kabul, Afghanistan, who sent holotype to the Bombay Natural History Society

Triplophysa fengshanensis Lan 2013 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Fengshan County, Guangxi Province, China, where Lintong Town (type locality) is situated

Triplophysa flavicorpus Yang, Chen & Lan 2004 flavus (L.), yellow; corpus (L.), body, referring to yellow base body color

Triplophysa furva Zhu 1992 Latin for dark or dusky, presumably referring to denser and darker black bands and markings on body and fins compared with Barbatula altayensis (described in the same paper)

Triplophysa fuxianensis Yang & Chu 1990 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Lake Fuxian, Yunnan Province, China, where it is endemic

Triplophysa gejiuensis (Chu & Chen 1979) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: underground river in Gejiu County, Yunnan Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa gerzeensis Cao & Zhu 1988 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: stream near Gêrzê County, Tibet, type locality

Triplophysa gracilis (Day 1877) Latin for slender, presumably referring to its elongate body shape

Triplophysa grahami (Regan 1906) in honor of British missionary John Graham (d. 1947), who collected many fishes from Yunnan, China, including holotype of this one

Triplophysa griffithii (Günther 1868) in honor of British naturalist and solicitor Edward Griffith (1790–1858), whose collection supplied holotype

Triplophysa guizhouensis Wu, He, Yang & Du 2018 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Guizhou Province, China, where type locality (small river in Baijin Village, Huishui County) is situated

Triplophysa gundriseri Prokofiev 2002 in honor of “famous” Siberian ichthyologist Aleksey Nikolaevich Gundriser (1919–2007), who described this loach in 1962 but used a preoccupied name, Nemacheilus dorsalis humilis

Triplophysa heyangensis Zhu 1992 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Heyangxian County, Shaanxi Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa hsutschouensis (Rendahl 1933) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Hsutschou, tributary of Ruo Shui River, Etsin Gol, Gansu Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa huapingensis Zheng, Yang & Chen 2012 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Huaping town, Leye County River, Guangxi, China, type locality

Triplophysa huidongensis Xiong & Guo 2021 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Huidong County, Sichuan Province, China, where type locality (Shenyu River) is situated [subgeneric placement provisional]

Triplophysa hutjertjuensis (Rendahl 1933) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Hutjertju Gol, Mongolia, type locality

Triplophysa jianchuanensis Zheng, Du, Chen & Yang 2010 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Jianchuan County, Dali Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa jinchuanensis Tan & Guo 2021 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Jinchuan County, Sichuan Province, China, where type locality (tributary of Dajin River) is situated

Triplophysa kafirnigani (Turdakov 1948) of the Kafirnigan River, tributary of Amu-Daya River, near Stalinabad (Dyushanbe), Tadzhikistan, type locality

Triplophysa kashmirensis (Hora 1922) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Kashmir (or Kashmir Valley in general), India, type locality

Triplophysa kullmanni Bănărescu, Nalbant & Ladiges 1975 in honor of Ernst Josef Kullmann (1931–1996), zoologist and director (1975–1981) of the Cologne Zoo (Germany), who led Afghan expedition that collected holotype in 1971

Triplophysa kungessana (Kessler 1879) –ana (L.), belonging to: Kungès River, Ili basin, Kazakhstan, elevation 1219 m, type locality

Triplophysa lacustris Yang & Chu 1990 Latin for relating to or associated with lakes (lacustrine), referring to Lake Xinyun (or Xingyunha), Yunnan Province, China, where it is endemic

Triplophysa ladacensis (Günther 1868) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Ladakh (also spelled Ladak), India, type locality

Triplophysa langpingensis Yang 2013 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Langping Town, Tianlin County, Guangxi Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa laterimaculata Li, Liu & Yang 2007 lateralis (L.), of the side; maculatus (L.), spotted, referring to 10 black blotches along lateral midline

Triplophysa laticeps Zhou & Cui 1997 latus (L.), wide or broad (authors say “flat”); –ceps (Neo-Latin), headed, referring to its “particularly” flat head

Triplophysa lixianensis He, Song & Zhang 2008 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Lixian County, Aba Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa longianguis Wu & Wu 1984 longus (L.), long; anguis (L.), snake, presumably referring to more vertebrae and/or longer caudal peduncle (and hence a longer, more snake-like body) compared with T. pseudoscleroptera

Triplophysa longipectoralis Zheng, Du, Chen & Yang 2009 longus (L.), long; pectoralis (L.), pectoral, referring to its long pectoral fin, reaching beyond origin of pelvic fin

Triplophysa longliensis Ren, Yang & Chen 2012 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Longli County, Guizhou Province, China, where type locality (Yudonghe River) is situated

Triplophysa luochengensis Li, Lan, Chan & Du 2017 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Luocheng County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, type locality

Triplophysa macrocephala Yang, Wu & Yang 2012 large-headed, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large, and kephalḗ (Gr. κεφαλή), head, referring to large head (25.3–30.4% of SL) relative to body

Triplophysa macromaculata Yang 1990 macro-, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large; maculata (L.), spotted, referring to six large, horseshoe-shaped blotches on back

Triplophysa macrophthalma Zhu & Guo 1985 large-eyed, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large, and ophthalmós (Gr. ὀφθαλμός), eye, its diameter larger than distance between the eyes

Triplophysa marmorata (Heckel 1838) Latin for marbled, referring to brown undulations and mottles on body

Triplophysa microphysus (Fang 1935) micro-, from mikrós (Gr. μικρός), small; physus, incorrect Latinization of phýsa (Gr. φύσα), bladder, referring to small free posterior portion of air bladder chamber, about 1/5 length of air-bladder duct [often spelled microphysa but name is an indeclinable compound noun]

Triplophysa moquensis Ding 1994 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: name not explained, possibly Moqu River, presumably near type locality, Xia Man Lake, Sichuan Province, China [treated as ajunior synonym of T. obscura by some workers]

Triplophysa nandanensis Lan, Yang & Chen 1995 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Nandan County, Guangxi Province, China, where type locality (outlet of an underground river at Ma-yang Village, Liuzhai Town) is situated

Triplophysa nanpanjiangensis (Zhu & Cao 1988) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: subterranean waters in the Nanpanjiang River basin, Zhanyixian County, Yunnan Province, China, where it appears to be endemic

Triplophysa nasobarbatula Wang & Li 2001 nasus (L.), nose; barbatula, diminutive of barba (L.), beard, referring to its barbel-like nostril valve

Triplophysa ninglangensis Wu & Wu 1988 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Ninglang River, Ninglang County, Yunnan Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa nujiangensa Chen, Cui & Yang 2004 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Nu Jiang (Salween) River, Nanjiang Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa obscura Wang 1987 Latin for dark, referring to its grayish-black dorsal surface and/or grayish-black fins

Triplophysa obtusirostra Wu & Wu 1988 obtusus (L.), blunt; rrostris, Neo-Latin scientific adjective of rostrum (L.), snout, referring to its wider, thicker and shorter “rostral character” compared with congeners

Triplophysa orientalis (Herzenstein 1888) Latin for eastern, proposed as an eastern Asian subspecies of T. kungessana

Triplophysa panguri (Hora 1936) of Pangur Tso, an interglacial lake at ~4300 m, Kashmir, India, co-type locality

Triplophysa panzhouensis Yu, Luo, Lan, Xiao & Zhou 2023    –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Panzhou City, Guizhou Province, China, where type locality (a vertical cave in Hongguo Town) is situated

Triplophysa pappenheimi (Fang 1935) in honor of German zoologist Paul Pappenheim (1878–1945), curator of fishes, Königliche Zoologische Museum (Berlin), for his kindness in allowing and trusting Fang to examine and describe Museum specimens, and for help in securing literature

Triplophysa paradoxa (Turdakov 1955) Latin for strange or contrary to expectation, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to Turdakov’s assessment that this species, contrary to previous belief, represented a hybrid between T. stolickai and T. dorsalis (Artem Prokofiev, pers. comm.)

Triplophysa parva Chen, Li & Yang 2009 Latin for little, referring to its small size (up to 32.4 mm SL)

Triplophysa polyfasciata Ding 1996 polý– (Gr. πολύ), many; fasciata (L.), banded, referring to 10–12 irregular dark brown bands on sides

Triplophysa posterodorsalus (Li, Ran & Chen 2006) posterior (L.), coming after; dorsum (L.), of the back, referring to insertion of dorsal fin behind vertical line of pelvic-fin insertion

Triplophysa pseudostenura He, Zhang & Song 2012 pseudo-, from pseúdēs (Gr. ψεύδης), false, i.e., although this species may resemble (and was previously misidentified as) T. stenura, such an appearance is false

Triplophysa qilianensis Li, Chen & Hu 2015 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Qilian County, Qinghai Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa qini Deng, Wang & Zhang 2022 in honor of Yong Qin, a cave explorer who caught the type specimens, for his contributions to the understanding of cave fishes of Wulong County, Chongqing, China

Triplophysa qiubeiensis Li & Yang 2008 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: underwater cave near Nijiao Village, Qiubei County, Yunnan Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa rongduensis Mao, Zhao, Yu, Xiao & Zhou 2023 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Rongdu Town, Ceheng County, Guizhou Province, China, where type locality (a cave in Rongbei Village) is situated

Triplophysa rosa Chen & Yang 2005 Latin for rose, named after Red Rose, a caving club that collected holotype

Triplophysa sanduensis Chen & Peng 2019 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Sandu County, Guizhou Province, China, where type locality (outlet of a karst cave) is situated

Triplophysa scapanognatha Prokofiev 2007 spade-jawed, from skapánē (Gr. σκαπάνη), digging tool, spade or mattock, and gnáthos (Gr. γνάθος), jaw, referring to truncated lower jaw, with a cutting margin

Triplophysa sellaefer (Nichols 1925) sella (L.), saddle; -fer, from fero (L.), to have or bear, referring to sharply marked and dark cross-saddles on back

Triplophysa shannanensis Wang, Huang, Chen & He 2024    –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Shannan Prefecture, Tibet, China, where type locality (Niangjiang Chu, Tsona County) is situated

Triplophysa shaanxiensis Chen 1987 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Shaanxi Province, China, where type locality (Tongchuan Xian) is situated

Triplophysa shashiguii Wu & Guo 2021 in honor of Sha Shigui, Nanchong Normal College (now China West Normal University), who taught the junior author taxonomy in college in 1977

Triplophysa shehensis Menon 1987 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: irrigation canal at Sheh, 12 km east of Ladakh, India, type locality

Triplophysa shilinensis Chen & Yang 1992 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: cave in Shi Lin (“Stone Forest”) County, also known as Lunan County, Yunnan Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa shiyangensis (Zhao & Wang 1983) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Shiyang He (=River) system, Gansu Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa siluroides (Herzenstein 1888) –oides, Neo-Latin from eíd̄os (Gr. εἶδος), form or shape: silurus, from sílouros (Gr. σίλουρος), catfish, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to long, catfish-like barbels

Triplophysa stenura (Herzenstein 1888) narrow-tailed, from sténos (Gr. στένος), narrow, and ourá (Gr. οὐρά), tail, referring to caudal peduncle depth sharply reduced towards caudal-fin base

Triplophysa stewarti (Hora 1922) in honor of Capt. Francis Hugh Stewart (1879–1951), Surgeon-Naturalist, Indian Medical Service, who helped collect holotype

Triplophysa tanggulaensis (Zhu 1982) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Tanggula Shankou (or Tanggula Pass), just south Wenquan, type locality, a small settlement in Tanggula Town, Qinghai Province, China

Triplophysa tianeensis Chen, Cui & Yang 2004 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Tian’e County, Guangxi Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa tianlinensis Li, Li, Lan & Du 2016 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: a karst cave in Tianlin County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, type locality

Triplophysa tianxingensis Yang, Li & Chen 2016 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Tianxing Township, Qiubei County, Yunnan Province, China, type locality; also alludes to unique color pattern: striking brown blotches resembling stars (tianxing means “stars in the sky” in Chinese)

Triplophysa tibetana (Regan 1905) –ana (L.), belonging to: Lhasa, Tibet, type locality

Triplophysa turpanensis Wu & Wu 1992 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Turpan City, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China, type locality

Triplophysa uranoscopus (Kessler 1872) ouranós (Gr. οὐρανός), heaven or sky; skopós (Gr. σκοπός), looker, contemplator or viewer, referring to its “eyes distinctly oriented upward” (translation)

Triplophysa venusta Zhu & Cao 1988 Latin for charming or beautiful, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its yellowish coloration and/or to Lijiang (=beautiful river), Yunnan, China, type locality, an area known for its natural scenic beauty

Triplophysa waisihani Cao & Zhang 2008 in honor of Wai Si Han (Chinese spelling of Wais Khan), 10th-generation male offspring of Mongolian emperor Genghis Khan, whose mausoleum is located in Dunmaza Town (Yining County, Xinjiang-Uighur, China), type locality

Triplophysa wulongensis Chen, Sheraliev, Shu & Peng 2021 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Wulong County, Chongqing Province, China, where type locality (Furong Cave) is situated

Triplophysa xiangshuingensis Li 2004 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Xiangshuijing village, Shilin County, Yunnan Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa xiangxiensis (Yang, Yuan & Liao 1986) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: subterranean waters in Xiangxi, alternate Chinese name for Hunan Province, China, where it is endemic

Triplophysa xichangensis Zhu & Cao 1989 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Xichangxian County, Sichuan Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa xichouensis Liu, Pan, Yang & Chen 2017 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Xichou County, Yunnan Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa xingshanensis (Yang & Xie 1983) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Xingshan County, western Hubei Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa xiqiensis Ding & Lai 1996 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Xiqi (also spelled Sikai) Village, Zhaojuexian County, Sichuan Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa xuanweiensis Lu, Li, Mao & Zhao 2022 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Xuanwei City, Yunnan Province, China, where type locality (a cave) is situated

Triplophysa yajiangensis Yan, Sun & Guo 2015 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: city of Yajiang, Sichuan Province, China, where type locality (Yalong River) is situated

Triplophysa yaopeizhii Xu, Zhang & Cai 1995 in honor of Yao Peizhi, vice chairman of the Agriculture and Forestry Committee of Tibet (type locality), for his support of the authors’ research

Triplophysa yunnanensis Yang 1990 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Yunnan Province, China, where it is endemic

Triplophysa yuzeshengi Guo & Sun 2021 in honor of Yu Zesheng, who taught the senior author taxonomy in college in 1977 [subgeneric placement provisional]

Triplophysa zhenfengensis Wang & Li 2001 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Zhenfeng County, Guizhou Province, China, type locality

Subgenus Daducobitis Prokofiev 2017 Dadu, Dadu River, Sichuan, China, type locality of T. alexandrae; cobitis, from kōbí̄tis (κωβῖτις), ancient Greek name for small fishes that bury in the bottom and/or are like a gudgeon or goby (first applied to loaches by Rondelet in 1555), here used as a general term for loach (Artem Prokofiev, pers. comm.)

Triplophysa alexandrae Prokofiev 2001 in honor of Alexandra Viktorovna Potanina (1843–1893), wife and companion of Grigory Nikolayaevich Potanin (1835–1920), Russian explorer of Central Asia

Subgenus Didymophysa Whitley 1950 dídymos (Gr. δίδυμος), double or twofold; phýsa (Gr. φύσα), bladder, referring to bilobed swim bladder of D. strauchii, resembling a “double bubble” (Artem Prokofiev, pers. comm.)

Triplophysa brachyptera (Herzenstein 1888) brachýs (Gr. βραχύς), short; ptera, from pterōtós (Gr. πτερωτός), winged or finned, referring to shorter fins compared with T. robusta

Triplophysa coniptera (Turdakov 1954) conus, from kṓnos (Gr. κῶνος), cone; ptera, from pterōtós (Gr. πτερωτός), winged or finned, referring to convex shape of distal margin of dorsal fin (formed by a prolonged posterior branched ray), compared with straight or concave in congeners of the region (Artem Prokofiev, pers. comm.)

Triplophysa coniptera mitrofanovi Prokofiev 2017 in memory of Russian ichthyologist Valery Petrovich Mitrofanov (1932–2001), author of a “major” (translation) 1989 report on the loaches of Kazakhstan

Triplophysa coniptera salari (Turdakov 1954) of Salar channel, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, type locality (Artem Prokofiev, pers. comm.)

Triplophysa dalaica (Kessler 1876) –ica (L.), belonging to: Dalai-Nor (Hulun) Lake, Mongolia, type locality

Triplophysa dorsonotata (Kessler 1879) dorsum (L.), back; notata (L.), marked, referring to dark spots along middle of back [treated as a subspecies of T. stolickai by some workers]

Triplophysa elegans (Kessler 1874) Latin for fine, elegant or select, probably referring to attractive markings and/or slender appearance (Kessler called it a “beautiful loach” [translation]) [treated as a subspecies or synonym of T. stolickai by some workers]

Triplophysa hexiensis (Zhao & Wang 1988) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Hexi area, Gansu Province, China, type locality [treated as a subspecies of T. retropinnis or synonym of T. stolickai by some workers]

Triplophysa hialmari Prokofiev 2001 in honor of Swedish zoologist and artist Hialmar Rendahl (1891–1969), for his “great” contribution to the systematics of Central Asian fishes

Triplophysa intermedia (Kessler 1876) Latin for intermediate, described as intermediate between T. dalaica and T. nasalis

Triplophysa lacusnigri (Berg 1928) lacus (L.), lake; nigri, genitive of nigra (L.), black, i.e., of Karakul (“Black Lake”) and its tributary, Pamir Plateau, Tajikistan, where it is endemic

Triplophysa microps (Steindachner 1866) micro-, from mikrós (Gr. μικρός), small; ṓps (Gr. ὦψ), eye, referring to its minute eyes, their length two or more times in interorbital space

Triplophysa minxianensis (Wang & Zhu 1979) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Minxian (or Min County), Gansu Province, China, where type locality (upper drainage of Tau-He River, Yellow River system) is situated

Triplophysa retropinnis (Herzenstein 1888) retro (L.), backward or behind; pinnis, Neo-Latin adjective of pinna, fin, referring to posterior placement of ventral fins compared with T. dorsonotata [treated as a subspecies of T. stolickai by some workers]

Triplophysa robusta (Kessler 1876) Latin for fat or stout, referring to its rather stout body shape

Triplophysa sewerzowi (Nikolskii 1938) in memory of the “celebrated” Russian zoologist and explorer Nikolai Alekseevich Sewerzow (1827–1885, also spelled Severtsov, Sewertsov, Severtzow and Severzow)

Triplophysa stolickai (Steindachner 1866) in honor of paleontologist Ferdinand Stoliczka (1838-1874), who collected holotype [spelled stoličkai by Steindachner; caron is deleted per ICZN Art. 32.5.2.1 but some authors incorrectly emend spelling to “stoliczkai”]

Triplophysa strauchii (Kessler 1874) in honor of Russian herpetologist Alexander Strauch (1832–1893)

Triplophysa weiheensis Feng, Zhang, Tong, Zhou & Zhao 2020 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: upper reaches of Weihe River, Zhangxian County, Gansu Province, China, only known area of occurrence [subgeneric placement provisional]

Subgenus Indotriplophysa Prokofiev 2010 Indo, referring to Indus River system (India and China), where several species occur; Triplophysa, nominate genus [treated as a full genus by some workers]

Triplophysa choprai (Hora 1934) in honor of Indian zoologist Bashambhar Nath Chopra (1898–1966), who led expedition that collected holotype, and who provided information and suggestions useful in the preparation of Hora’s report

Triplophysa crassicauda (Herzenstein 1888) crassus (L.), wide; cauda (L.), tail, referring to its deeper caudal peduncle compared with T. leptosoma

Triplophysa daryoae Sheraliev, Kayumova & Peng 2022 in honor of Daryo Sheralieva, the “lovely daughter” of the first author

Triplophysa eugeniae Prokofiev 2002 in honor of Russian paleochthyologist Eugenia K. Sytchevskaya (1936–2021), who helped and supported Prokofiev and critically perused his manuscript

Triplophysa ferganaensis Sheraliev & Peng 2021 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan, where type locality (Shakhimardan stream in Yordon village) is situated [subgeneric placement provisional]

Triplophysa kokshaalensis Prokofiev 2017 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Kokshaal, contemporary name of Taushkan River, Xinjian, China, type locality

Triplophysa leptosoma (Herzenstein 1888) leptós (Gr. λεπτός), thin; sṓma (Gr. σῶμα), body, referring to its thin, tapering body

Triplophysa tenuicauda (Steindachner 1866) tenuis (L.), thin or slender; cauda (L.), tail, referring to narrower caudal peduncle compared with T. stolickai

Triplophysa tenuis (Day 1877) Latin for thin or slender, referring to more elongate body compared with T. ladacensis

Triplophysa yasinensis (Alcock 1898) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Yasin River, Ladakh, India, type locality

Subgenus Labiatophysa) Prokofiev 2010 labiatus (L.), lipped, referring to deeply furrowed and papillated lips of L. labiata; –physa-, suffix for Triplophysa, proposed as a subgenus of that genus [treated as a full genus by some workers]

Triplophysa herzensteini (Berg 1909) patronym not identified but clearly in honor of Russian ichthyologist Solomon Markovich Herzenstein (1854–1894), who described many Middle-Asian loaches

Triplophysa kaznakowi Prokofiev 2004 in honor of Russian naturalist Alexsandr N. Kaznakov (1872–1933), who helped collect holotype in 1899

Triplophysa labiata (Kessler 1874) Latin for lipped, referring to its deeply furrowed and papillated lips

Triplophysa microphthalma (Kessler 1879) small-eyed, from mikrós (Gr. μικρός), small, and ophthalmós (Gr. ὀφθαλμός), eye, presumably referring to eye size, described as fitting 8–9 times in length of head

Triplophysa nasalis (Kessler 1876) Latin for nasal, referring to anterior nares produced as “nearly barbel-like semitubules” (translation) [species inquirenda, provisionally included here]

Subgenus Paradidymophysa Prokofiev 2017 pará (Gr. παρά), near, i.e., similar to Didymophysa

Triplophysa arnoldii Prokofiev 2006 in honor of Lev Vladimirovich Arnoldi (1903–1980), “one of the most eminent Russian entomologists,” who collected holotype in 1968

Triplophysa papillosolabiata (Kessler 1879) papillatus (L.), papillose; labiata (L.), lipped, referring to two rows of large papillae on bilobed lower lip

Triplophysa ulacholica (Anikin 1905) –ica (L.), belonging to: mouth of Ulakhol River at Issyk-Kul Lake, Kyrgyzstan, type locality

Triplophysa zhaoi Prokofiev 2006 in honor of ichthyologist Zhao Tieqiao (or Tie-Qiao), Shaanxi Institute of Zoology (Xian, China), for his “great” contribution to the study of nemacheiline loaches from northwestern China

Subgenus Qinghaichthys Zhu 1981 Qinghai, referring to occurrence of T. alticeps in Qinghai-Xizang Plateau of China; ichthýs (Gr. ἰχθύς), fish [treated as a full genus by some workers]

Triplophysa alticeps (Herzenstein 1888) altus (L.), high; –ceps (Neo-Latin), headed, referring to its relatively deep and laterally compressed head

Triplophysa rotundiventris (Wu & Chen 1979) rotundus (L.), round; ventris, genitive of venter (L.), belly, referring to round, chubby and slightly wide mid-region of body, which, when compared with its long, slim and slightly thin tail region, creates the impression of a round or chubby belly

Triplophysa zaidamensis (Kessler 1876) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Zaidam, apparently from a Russian spelling of the Tsaidam Basin in Quinghai Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa zamegacephala (Zhao 1985) zá– (Gr. ζά), intensive particle, i.e., very; mégas (Gr. μέγας), big; cephala, from kephalḗ (Gr. κεφαλή), headed, referring to larger head compared with T. dorsalis and T. stolickai

Subgenus Sclerophysa Prokofiev 2017 combination of sclero-, referring to T. scleroptera (type species) and –physa, referring to Triplophysa

Triplophysa altipinnis Prokofiev 2003 altus (L.), high; pinnis, Neo-Latin adjective of pinna (L.), fin, referring to its high dorsal fin compared with most other nemacheiline loaches

Triplophysa markehenensis (Zhu & Wu 1981) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Marke He (River), Qinghai Province, China, type locality

Triplophysa pseudoscleroptera (Zhu & Wu 1981) pseudo-, from pseúdēs (Gr. ψεύδης), false, i.e., although this species may resemble T. scleroptera, such an appearance is false

Triplophysa scleroptera (Herzenstein 1888)  hard-finned, from sklērós (Gr. σκληρός), tough or hard, and ptera, from pterón (Gr. πτερόν) or ptéryx (πτέρυξ), fin, referring to thickened and sclerotized last unbranched rays on dorsal and anal fins

Triplophysa wuweiensis (Li & Chang 1974) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Wuwei-Hsien, Kansu Province, China, type locality

Subgenus Tarimichthys Prokofiev 2010 referring to Tarim River system, northern China, distribution of T. bombifrons and T. incipiens; ichthýs (Gr. ἰχθύς), fish

Triplophysa bombifrons (Herzenstein 1888) etymology not explained, probably bombe, French for convex; frons (L.), face or brow, referring to bulging or protruding head of larger specimens

Triplophysa edsinica Prokofiev 2003 –ica (L.), belonging to: Edsin River basin, Xinjiang, Hexi region of China, type locality

Triplophysa incipiens (Herzenstein 1888) Latin for beginning, allusion not explained; since it was proposed as a subspecies of T. bombifrons, name may refer to its being an incipient species, i.e., a subspecies, or variety, which is in the process of becoming permanent or “full” species

Troglonectes Zhang, Zhao & Tang 2016 trṓglē (Gr. τρώγλη), hole; nḗktēs (Gr. νήκτης), swimmer, referring to distribution of all species in subterranean waters of the Hongshuihe River system, Guangxi Province, China

Troglonectes barbatus (Gan 2013) Latin for bearded, referring to its thin barbels, the thinnest in the genus

Troglonectes canlinensis Li, Ge, Bao, Du, Luo & Zou 2023 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place but apparently used here as a generic adjective: from the Chinese (pinyin) càn, resplendence, and lín, forest, “symbolizing health and tenacious vitality,” referring to how this loach is “valuable and rare and requires strong vitality to maintain a viable population”

Troglonectes daqikongensis (Deng, Wen, Xiao & Zhou 2016) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: known only from a karst cave in Daqikong area, Libo County, Guizhou Province, China

Troglonectes dongganensis (Yang 2013) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Donggan village, Chuanshan and Huanjing counties, Guangxi Province, China, type locality

Troglonectes donglanensis (Wu 2013) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Donglan County, Guangxi Province, China, type locality

Troglonectes duanensis (Lan 2013) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Du’an County, Guangxi Province, China, where Chen Jiang Town (type locality) is situated

Troglonectes elongatus (Tang, Zhao & Zhang 2012) Latin for prolonged, being the most elongate member of its genus

Troglonectes furcocaudalis (Zhu & Cao 1987) furcatus (L.), forked; caudalis (L.), of the tail, referring to its forked caudal fin

Troglonectes hechiensis Zhao, Liu, Du & Luo 2021 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Hechi City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, where type locality (Xiaohuanjiang River) is situated

Troglonectes huanjiangensis (Yang, Wu & Lan 2011) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Huajiang County, Guangxi, China, type locality

Troglonectes jiarongensis (Lin, Li & Song 2012) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: cave in Jiarong Town, Libo County, Guizhou Province, China, type locality

Troglonectes lihuensis (Wu, Yang & Lan 2012) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: cave in Lihu Town, Nandan County, Guangxi Zhuang, China, type locality

Troglonectes lingyunensis (Liao, Wang & Luo 1997) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Lingyun County, Guangxi Province, China, type locality

Troglonectes longibarbatus (Chen, Yang, Sket & Aljancic 1998) longus (L.), long; barbatus (L.), bearded, referring to its well-developed barbels

Troglonectes macrolepis (Huang, Du, Chen & Yang 2009) macro-, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large; lepίs (Gr. λεπίς), scale, referring to its larger visible scales compared with T. furcocaudalis and T. microphthalmus

Troglonectes maolanensis (Li, Ran & Chen 2006) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Maolan Karst Forestry Natural Reserve, Guizhou Province, China, type locality

Troglonectes microphthalmus (Du, Chen & Yang 2008) micro-, from mikrós (Gr. μικρός), small; ophthalmós (Gr. ὀφθαλμός), eye, referring to its degenerate eyes, which are merely a small dot of black pigment

Troglonectes retrodorsalis (Lan, Yang & Chen 1995) retro- (L.), backward or behind; dorsalis (Neo-Latin), dorsal, referring to posterior placement of dorsal fin, dorsal fin insertion closer to caudal-fin base than to tip of snout

Troglonectes shuilongensis (Deng, Xiao, Hou & Zhou 2016) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Shuilong Township, Sandu County, Guizhou Province, China, type locality

Troglonectes translucens (Zhang, Zhao & Zhang 2006) Latin for clear, transparent or translucent, referring to its semitransparent appearance in life

Tuberoschistura Kottelat 1990 tuberosus (L.), i.e., covered with lumps or tumors, referring to small elongate tubercles regularly placed around eye and forming a longitudinal series in the interorbital space; Schistura, a related genus

Tuberoschistura baenzigeri (Kottelat 1983) in honor of Swiss entomologist Hans Bänziger (b. 1941), Chiang Mai, Thailand, whose help made Kottelat’s collecting trip a success

Tuberoschistura cambodgiensis Kottelat 1990 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Cambodia, where it is endemic

Turcinoemacheilus Bănărescu & Nalbant 1964 Turcica (L.), Turkey, i.e., a Turkish Nemacheilus, referring to occurrence of T. kosswigi in eastern Turkey

Turcinoemacheilus ansari Jouladeh-Roudbar, Vatandoust, Doadrio & Ghanavi 2023 in honor of Iranian-born American engineer Anousheh Ansari (b. 1966), the first Iranian and self-funded woman to fly to the International Space Station; the name “pays tribute to her, serving as a source of inspiration and motivation for future generations, especially women in Iran” [a noun in apposition, without the matronymic “ae”]

Turcinoemacheilus bahaii Esmaeili, Sayyadzadeh, Özuluğ, Geiger & Freyhof 2014 in honor of Bahā’ al-Din Muhammad ibn Husayn al-‘Amili (also known as Shaykh-i Bahā’i, 1547–1621), Persian scholar, philosopher, architect, mathematician, astronomer and poet

Turcinoemacheilus christofferi Jouladeh-Roudbar, Vatandoust, Doadrio & Ghanavi 2023 in honor of Christoffer Fägerström (Lund University, Sweden), for his “invaluable contributions to the photography and comprehensive documentation of type specimens of a variety of taxa, including insects, fishes, and other organisms,” including photos used in the descriptions of T. ansari, T. moghbeli and this species

Turcinoemacheilus ekmekciae Kayn, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Aksu, Bayçelebi & Turan 2023 in honor of Fitnat Güler Ekmekçi, Hacettepe University, for her contribution to the knowledge of the fishes of Turkey

Turcinoemacheilus hafezi Golzarianpour, Abdoli, Patimar & Freyhof 2013 in honor of Khwāja Shamsud-Dān Muhammad Hāfez-e Shārizi (1325/26–1389/90), known by his pen name Hāfez, “one of the most famous and influential Persian lyric poets”

Turcinoemacheilus himalaya Conway, Edds, Shrestha & Mayden 2011 Sanskrit Hima-Alaya, meaning “adobe [sic, abode] of snow,” referring to Himalayan Mountain Range, where it is endemic

Turcinoemacheilus inexpectatus Freyhof & Jouladeh-Roudbar 2024    Latin for unexpected, referring to how the discovery that this species is distinct from T. kosswigi “came as a great surprise”

Turcinoemacheilus kosswigi Bănărescu & Nalbant 1964 in honor of German zoologist and geneticist Curt Kosswig (1903–1982), who collected, or supervised the collection of, many Turkish fishes, including holotype of this one

Turcinoemacheilus minimus Esmaeili, Sayyadzadeh, Özuluğ, Geiger & Freyhof 2014 Latin for least, referring to its small size, up to 38 mm SL

Turcinoemacheilus moghbeli Jouladeh-Roudbar, Vatandoust, Doadrio & Ghanavi 2023 in honor of American NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli (b. 1983), of Iranian descent, for her contributions to space exploration and her achievements in the field of aerospace; her “accomplishments and dedication serve as a beacon of hope and encouragement for Iranian women” [a noun in apposition, without the matronymic “ae”]

Turcinoemacheilus saadii Esmaeili, Sayyadzadeh, Özuluğ, Geiger & Freyhof 2014 in honor of Abū-Muhammad Muslih al-Din bin Abdallāh Shārizi, Saadi Shirazi (ca. 1210–ca. 1291, better known by his pen-name Sa‘di, or Saadi), one of the major Persian poets of the medieval period

Yunnanilus Nichols 1925 presumably a Latinization or adjectival form of Yunnan, proposed as a subgenus of Nemacheilus then comprising three species, all from Yunnan, China

Yunnanilus analis Yang 1990 Latin for anal, referring to six branched anal-fin rays, unique among congeners

Yunnanilus beipanjiangensis Li, Mao & Sun 1994 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Beipanjiang River system, Yunnan Province, China, type locality

Yunnanilus chuanheensis Jiang, Zhao, Du & Wan 2021 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Chuanhe, upper reaches of the Lixianjiang River, Nanjian County, Yunnan Province, China, type locality

Yunnanilus chui Yang 1991 in honor of ichthyologist Chu Xin-Luo, a specialist in the fishes of Yunnan, China, for “kindness, valuable advice and help” given to the author

Yunnanilus discoloris Zhou & He 1989 dis (L.), in two or apart (i.e., different); coloris (L.), color, referring to sexually dimorphic color pattern: male with black longitudinal stripe on both sides and a light blackish stripe of spots along back, female with black spots and blotches on back and sides

Yunnanilus elakatis Cao & Zhu 1989 ēlakátē (Gr. ἠλακάτη), distaff or spindle, referring to “slightly fusiform” (translation), i.e., spindle-like, shape of its body

Yunnanilus forkicaudalis Li 1999 forki-, Latinization of the Anglo-Saxon fork; caudalis (L.), tailed, referring to forked caudal fin

Yunnanilus jiuchiensis Du, Hou, Chen & Yang 2018 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Jiuchi County, Sichuan Province, China, where type locality (tributary of Tuojiang River) is situated

Yunnanilus longibulla Yang 1990 longus (L.), long; bulla (L.), bubble, referring to more elongate air bladder compared with Y. pleurotaenia and Y. parvus

Yunnanilus macrogaster Kottelat & Chu 1988 macro-, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large; gastḗr (Gr. γαστήρ), stomach, referring to its large, swollen stomach

Yunnanilus macroistainus Li 1999 macro-, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large; stainus, presumably a Latinization of the Anglo-Saxon stain, referring to 8–10 large black spots along sides of body

Yunnanilus macrolepis Li, Tao & Mao 2000 macro-, from makrós (Gr. μακρός), long or large; lepίs (Gr. λεπίς), scale, referring to larger, denser scales on body surface compared with congeners

Yunnanilus nanpanjiangensis Li, Mao & Lu 1994 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Nanpanjiang River system, Yunnan Province, China, type locality

Yunnanilus paludosus Kottelat & Chu 1988 Latin for marshy, referring to biotype where types were collected

Yunnanilus parvus Kottelat & Chu 1988 Latin for small, referring to its small size, up to 37.6 mm SL

Yunnanilus pleurotaenia (Regan 1904) pleurá (Gr. πλευρά), side; tainía (Gr. ταινία), ribbon or band, referring to blackish longitudinal stripe on side

Yunnanilus sichuanensis Ding 1995 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Sichuan, China, where it is endemic

Yunnanilus spanisbripes An, Liu & Li 2009 etymology not explained and complicated by fact that name is spelled spanisbripes in Chinese text and spanitripes in English abstract; since vernacular translates as “horizontal stripe Yunnan loach” one may guess that spanis is a Latinization of the Anglo-Saxon span, or bridge, and both –bripes and –tripes are misspellings of the Anglo-Saxon stripes, referring to single lateral stripe on females (males are blotched or spotted

Yunnanilus yangi He, Li, Che, Yang, Wang & Wang 2024 in honor of ichthyologist-herpetologist Jun-Xing Yang, Kunming Institute of Zoology, for his “outstanding” contribution to fish-diversity conservation in Yunnan Province, China, where this loach occurs