Taxonomy & naming
Smith described the species in 1929 from the Mekong, Thailand, in the same paper that set up the genus Puntioplites, so the authority carries no parentheses. It is a deep-bodied barb of the larger Mekong cyprinids.
Morphology
A silvery, deep-bodied barb whose dorsal fin bears a hard, sickle-shaped ray, as the name falcifer suggests. FishBase gives a maximum of 15.5 in with no length type stated.
Habitat
FishBase lists the species as freshwater, benthopelagic and potamodromous in tropical water, from the Mekong basin. It prefers deep pools in the river and migrates into streams, canals and lakes during the flood season.
Feeding
FishBase says that, like other members of the genus, it feeds mainly on plant matter and occasionally on insects and insect larvae.
Mating
Mating behaviour is not described in the sources the atlas uses.
Breeding
Breeding is not described in the sources the atlas uses. FishBase records large, flood-season migrations in schools, travelling with Cosmochilus harmandi, Cirrhinus species, Labeo chrysophekadion and Bangana.
In the aquarium
FishBase gives no aquarium notes. A 15.5 in shoaling river barb needs a very large tank or pond and a group, and is better suited to public aquaria than home tanks.
Conservation
FishBase lists the species as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, assessed 20 February 2011. FishBase notes it is marketed fresh.