Taxonomy & naming
Valenciennes described the species in 1842 in Cuvier and Valenciennes's Histoire naturelle des poissons, from Bogor and Surayevi on Java. It was first placed in another genus, so the authority is in parentheses. Barbichthys is a small genus in the family Cyprinidae. No widely used English common name is recorded.
Morphology
A long, cylindrical, sucker-mouthed cyprinid built for grazing. FishBase gives a maximum of 12 in TL for males and unsexed fish.
Habitat
It lives in the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo and Java, and in the Mekong and Chao Phraya basins. FishBase says it is found mainly in medium to large rivers, in large rivers during the dry season and in floodplain streams and canals in the wet season. It does not persist in impoundments.
Feeding
FishBase lists algae and phytoplankton, and also fish and crustaceans, in the diet.
Mating
Mating behaviour is not described.
Breeding
Reproduction is not described, and no captive spawning has been documented.
In the aquarium
FishBase gives 73–79 °F and no pH or hardness range. The adult size and river habitat mean a very large tank with strong flow and filtration, rocks and wood hung with algae, and plenty of vegetable food. It is a poor fit for small community tanks.
Conservation
The IUCN Red List category is Least Concern, assessed on 9 January 2019. FishBase notes that it does not persist in impoundments, so dam building is a local pressure on it.