''Parabotia'' is a genus of

loaches Loaches are fish of the superfamily Cobitoidea. They are freshwater, benthic (bottom-dwelling) fish found in rivers and creeks throughout Eurasia and northern Africa. Loaches are among the most diverse groups of fish; the 1249 known species of ...

. Most species in the genus are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to China, but ''P. curtis'' is from Japan, ''P. dubius'' is from

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, and ''P. mantschuricus'' is from the

Amur River The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...

basin.

Species

There are currently 12 recognized species in this genus: * '' Parabotia banarescui'' (

Nalbant Nalbant is a commune in Tulcea County, Northern Dobruja, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Nalbant, Nicolae Bălcescu (since 1948; until 1923 ''Bașchioi''; '' Principele Mihai'' from 1923 to 1948) and Trestenic. The commune's name comes ...

, 1965) * '' Parabotia bimaculatus'' J. X. Chen, 1980 * ''

Parabotia brevirostris ''Parabotia'' is a genus of loaches. Most species in the genus are endemic to China, but ''P. curtis'' is from Japan, ''P. dubius'' is from Vietnam, and ''P. mantschuricus'' is from the Amur River basin. Species There are currently 12 recognized ...

'' D. G. Zhu & Y. Zhu, 2012Zhu, D.-g. & Zhu, Y. (2012)
Description of a New Species of ''Parabotia'' Fish from Guangxi, China (Cypriniformes: Cobitidae).
''Journal of Yunnan Agricultural University, 27 (3): 447-449.'' (Chinese w/English abstract) * '' Parabotia curtus'' (

Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch aristocrat, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob Temminck ...

& Schlegel, 1846) (Ayumodoki, Kissing Loach) * ''

Parabotia dubius ''Parabotia'' is a genus of loaches. Most species in the genus are endemic to China, but ''P. curtis'' is from Japan, ''P. dubius'' is from Vietnam, and ''P. mantschuricus'' is from the Amur River basin. Species There are currently 12 recognized ...

Kottelat Maurice Kottelat (born 16 July 1957 in Delémont, SwitzerlandC ...

, 2001 * ''

Parabotia fasciatus ''Parabotia'' is a genus of loaches. Most species in the genus are endemic to China, but ''P. curtis'' is from Japan, ''P. dubius'' is from Vietnam, and ''P. mantschuricus'' is from the Amur River basin. Species There are currently 12 recognized ...

'' Dabry de Thiersant, 1872 * ''

Parabotia heterocheilus ''Parabotia'' is a genus of loaches. Most species in the genus are endemic to China, but ''P. curtis'' is from Japan, ''P. dubius'' is from Vietnam, and ''P. mantschuricus'' is from the Amur River basin. Species There are currently 12 recognized ...

'' Zhu & Chen, 2006 * ''

Parabotia kiangsiensis ''Parabotia'' is a genus of loaches. Most species in the genus are endemic to China, but ''P. curtis'' is from Japan, ''P. dubius'' is from Vietnam, and ''P. mantschuricus'' is from the Amur River basin. Species There are currently 12 recognized ...

'' R. L. Liu & Z. Z. Guo, 1986 * ''

Parabotia lijiangensis ''Parabotia'' is a genus of loaches. Most species in the genus are endemic to China, but ''P. curtis'' is from Japan, ''P. dubius'' is from Vietnam, and ''P. mantschuricus'' is from the Amur River basin. Species There are currently 12 recognized ...

'' J. X. Chen, 1980 * '' Parabotia maculosus'' ( H. W. Wu, 1939) * '' Parabotia mantschuricus'' ( L. S. Berg, 1907) (Manchurian spiny loach) * '' Parabotia parvus'' J. X. Chen, 1980 (Note that under nomenclatural rules, this genus must be considered as masculine even though all other genera ending in ''-botia'' are considered to be feminine. See reference for more information.Kottelat, M. (2012)
Conspectus cobitidum: an inventory of the loaches of the world (Teleostei: Cypriniformes: Cobitoidei).
''The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology'', Supplement No. 26: 1-199.)

References

Botiidae Fish of Asia {{Cypriniformes-stub