Paracanthocobitis Explained

Paracanthocobitis is a genus, or subgenus, of freshwater fish in the family Nemacheilidae. This genus is known from the Indus basin in Pakistan to the Mekong basin of Cambodia and Laos The type species is Paracanthocobitis zonalternans. Some authorities treat this as a subgenus of Acanthocobitis

Species

There are 12^[1] or 13 recognised species in this genus:

• Paracanthocobitis abutwebi R. A. Singer & Page, 2015 (Hillstream zipper loach) ^[2]
• Paracanthocobitis adelaideae R. A. Singer & Page, 2015 (Checkerboard zipper loach) ^[2]
• Paracanthocobitis canicula R. A. Singer & Page, 2015 (Houndstooth zipper loach) ^[2]
• Paracanthocobitis linypha R. A. Singer & Page, 2015 (Sewing needle zipper loach) ^[2]
• Paracanthocobitis maekhlongensis R. A. Singer & Page, 2015 (Maekhlong zipper loach) ^[2]
• Paracanthocobitis mandalayensis (Rendahl (de), 1948) (Mandalay zipper loach)
• Paracanthocobitis marmorata R. A. Singer, Pfeiffer & Page, 2017 (Marmorated zipper loach)
• Paracanthocobitis nigrolineata R. A. Singer, Pfeiffer & Page, 2017 (Blacklined zipper loach)
• Paracanthocobitis phuketensis (Klausewitz, 1957)
• Paracanthocobitis triangula R. A. Singer, Pfeiffer & Page, 2017 (Wedged zipper loach)
• Paracanthocobitis tumitensis Arunkumar & Moyon, 2019
• Paracanthocobitis zonalternans (Blyth, 1860) (Dwarf zipper loach)

The contested species is:

• Paracanthocobitis urophthalma (Günther, 1868) (Banded mountain zipper loach), which WoRMS accepts as Acanthocobitis urophthalmus.

Additionally, Singer and Page recognises one more,

• Paracanthocobitis aurea (F. Day, 1872) (Barred zipper loach) ^[2]
• paracanthocobitis epimekes Dvořák, Bohlen, Kottelat, & Šlechtová, 2022

Notes and References

1. Bailly, Nicolas. 2017. Paracanthocobitis Grant, 2007. 1006831 . 7 September 2023.
2. Singer, R.A. & Page, L.M. (2015): Revision of the Zipper Loaches, Acanthocobitis and Paracanthocobitis (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae), with Descriptions of Five New Species. Copeia, 103 (2): 378–401.