Annamia is a small genus of loaches restricted to river systems of mainland Southeast Asia, with the atlas's 2 species - Annamia normani and Annamia thuathienensis - recorded from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The genus sits within the same broad loach lineage that includes the hobby's popular clown and chain loaches, sharing a barbeled, downturned mouth and a bottom-oriented body built for picking food from riverbed sediment and rock. Adults reach about 4 in.
Annamia normani carries the common name Vietnamese giraffe loach, a nod to the bold, blotched patterning along its flanks reminiscent of giraffe markings, and it turns up occasionally in the specialist loach trade, valued more for that striking pattern than for wide availability. Annamia thuathienensis is far less documented and does not have an established presence in the aquarium hobby. One atlas species is Least Concern and the other Not Evaluated, with no strong conservation signal recorded for the genus so far.