Acanthocobitis is a genus of stone loaches from the fast, well-oxygenated hill streams of South and Southeast Asia, recorded in the atlas from Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, and Thailand. Atlas species measure 3.5–6 in, on the larger side for stream loaches. They share the elongate, cylindrical body, ventrally flattened head, and barbelled mouth typical of the family, built for holding position against current while grazing algae and biofilm from stone surfaces.
The zipper loach (A. longipinnis) and spearfin loach (A. pavonacea) both turn up occasionally in the specialist loach trade as peaceful, hardy bottom-dwellers for cooler, fast-flowing, well-oxygenated aquaria - they do best with strong water movement and a sand or fine-gravel substrate rather than the still water many community fish tolerate. All three atlas species are Not Evaluated for conservation status, leaving their population trends undocumented despite mounting pressure on South Asian hill-stream habitat from damming and water extraction.