Taxonomy & naming
Described by Decio Vinciguerra in 1890. The type locality is Meetan, upper Myanmar. It is a valid species in the Catalog of Fishes. The epithet is Latin and refers to the dorsal fin or back.
Morphology
A flattened, torrent-adapted catfish with a thoracic adhesive pad and spined dorsal and pectoral fins. FishBase gives a maximum of 6 in SL.
Habitat
FishBase lists the Irrawaddy and Salween drainages of Myanmar and China, and describes it as found in mountain rapids.
Feeding
A benthic insectivore; no species-specific data.
Mating
Mating behaviour is not documented for Glyptothorax dorsalis in the sources available to the atlas. Sexes cannot be separated reliably from the information available.
Breeding
No spawning or breeding record is known to the atlas.
In the aquarium
A specialised rheophile. It needs clean, cool-to-moderate, strongly oxygenated flowing water and rocky cover. Rarely available and not for a general community tank.
Conservation
The IUCN Red List assessed Glyptothorax dorsalis as Least Concern in 2010. Hillstream fishes are sensitive to siltation, damming and altered flow.