Taxonomy & naming
Pseudolaguvia khairii was described in 2026 by Balaji Vijayakrishnan, Gaurav Anil Shinde and Prakash Chand Gogineni in Zootaxa, from the Budhabalanga River near Baripada in Mayurbhanj District, Odisha, eastern India. The Catalog of Fishes (Eschmeyer, California Academy of Sciences) places Pseudolaguvia within the family Sisoridae, subfamily Sisorinae, rather than the alternative family placement (Erethistidae) used for the genus by some other classifications; this article follows the Catalog of Fishes record as the governing authority for valid names. Pseudolaguvia is a genus of small "moth catfishes" found across South and Southeast Asian hillstreams.
The holotype (NRS/ZSI F-10775) and seven paratypes (NRS/ZSI F-10776) were collected from the Budhabalanga River at 21°55'25.0"N, 86°43'03.5"E. The Catalog of Fishes records Pseudolaguvia khairii Vijayakrishnan, Shinde & Gogineni, 2026 as the valid, currently accepted name, with no synonyms.
Morphology
The accessible abstract reports that Pseudolaguvia khairii is distinguished from all its congeners by a prominent and fleshy protuberance along the dorsal-fin base — an unusual character among Pseudolaguvia species. It is additionally separated from congeners by a combination of characters: a serrated anterior margin of the dorsal-fin spine, an ovoid thoracic adhesive apparatus, body depth at anus 15.0–19.2% standard length (SL), adipose-fin base length 13.2–18.3% SL, dorsal-to-adipose distance 17.0–22.4% SL, pectoral-fin length 25.7–31.8% SL, caudal-fin length 27.7–33.4% SL, dorsal-fin base 7.6–13.5% SL, head depth 10.9–13.8% SL, and creamish bands on the body. No absolute body length in centimetres is given in the accessible abstract, though the species is described in the paper's own title as "diminutive."
Habitat
Pseudolaguvia khairii is known only from its type locality on the Budhabalanga River near Baripada, Mayurbhanj District, Odisha, India — a river draining the eastern flank of the Similipal hill massif toward the Bay of Bengal. Like other small Sisoridae, it presumably inhabits fast-flowing, rocky hillstream water — a family-level expectation, not a water-chemistry measurement reported in the accessible abstract.
Feeding
No feeding observations are available for Pseudolaguvia khairii. Like other Pseudolaguvia and small Sisorinae generally, it is presumed to be a benthic micropredator picking small invertebrates from rock and gravel in current — a genus-level generality, not a documented observation for this species.
Mating
No courtship or spawning behaviour has been recorded for Pseudolaguvia khairii, and no external sexual dimorphism is described in the accessible abstract. This is a 2026 description known only from its type series.
Breeding
Pseudolaguvia khairii has never been kept or bred in captivity. As with most small Sisoridae, captive breeding of the genus is essentially undocumented.
In the aquarium
Pseudolaguvia khairii is not present in the aquarium trade — it is known only from a small scientific type series collected in Odisha, India. Were it ever to appear in the trade, the general approach for small Pseudolaguvia species would apply: cool to moderate, fast-flowing, well-oxygenated water and a fine gravel or rock substrate the fish can shelter among. As with all Sisoridae, the skin is scaleless, so medications should be dosed conservatively. These are genus-level cautions, not species-specific data.
Conservation
Pseudolaguvia khairii has not been assessed by the IUCN Red List and carries a status of Not Evaluated, as expected for a species described in 2026. It is currently known only from a single locality on the Budhabalanga River in Mayurbhanj District, Odisha, India; no population or threat data have been published in the material accessible for this article.