Genus · Loaches

Cobitis

Cobitis is a genus with 139 species in this atlas, catalogued in the Loaches section, recorded from China, Turkey, Greece and 47 more countries. Adult sizes run from 2 in to 9.5 in. Every species below links to a full researched profile.

Species in atlas: 139
Adult sizes: 2–9.5 in
IUCN assessed: 139 of 139 · 27 threatened
Recorded from: 50 countries

About the genus

Cobitis is the genus of true spined loaches in the family Cobitidae, elongate bottom-dwelling fish named for the small erectile spine set beneath each eye, which the fish can flick outward when handled or threatened. The atlas covers 139 species distributed across a broad swath of Eurasia, including China, Turkey, Greece, South Korea, Japan, North Macedonia, Vietnam and Albania, with a particular concentration of narrow-range endemics across the Balkans and Anatolia. Adults are modest in size, from about 2 in to 9.5 in, with the slender, faintly mottled or barred body typical of loaches, and most species are closely tied to specific river or lake drainages rather than being broadly distributed.

Cobitis is mainly of scientific and conservation interest rather than a mainstay of the aquarium trade, and that focus shows in its status profile: the atlas tally includes 17 Endangered and 4 Critically Endangered species, plus one already Extinct, a heavier conservation burden than most genera on the atlas carry. Much of that pressure traces to how narrowly many species are distributed. A single spring system or short river stretch in the Balkans or Anatolia can hold an entire species' known range, leaving them exposed to damming, pollution and water diversion in a way that wider-ranging fish are not. A small number, like the Japanese striped loach (C. biwae) and the dwarf loach (C. brevifasciata), are occasionally seen in specialist collections, but most Cobitis are best known from ichthyological survey work rather than the hobby.

IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered · 4 Endangered · 17 Vulnerable · 6 Near Threatened · 9 Least Concern · 24 Data Deficient · 8 Not Evaluated · 70

The 139 species

Every Cobitis recorded in this atlas. Each card links to a full researched profile — distribution, water parameters, and aquarium care, cited to primary sources.

4.5 in TL · LC

Cobitis aliyeae

Freyhof, Bayçelebi & Geiger, 2018

2 in SL · NE

Cobitis amphilekta

Vasil'eva & Vasil'ev, 2012

Azerbaijani spined loach

2 in TL · DD

3 in SL · NE

4 in SL · LC

Cobitis bilseli

Battalgil, 1942

Beyşehir spined loach

9.5 in TL · EN

Cobitis biwae

Jordan & Snyder, 1901

Japanese striped loach

4.5 in SL · NE

Cobitis brachysoma

Chen & Chen, 2018

2.5 in SL · NE

Cobitis brevifasciata

(Kim & Lee, 1995)

Dwarf loach, Korean dwarf loach

3 in TL · VU

Cobitis brevipinna

(Chen & Chen, 2017)

2.5 in SL · NE

Cobitis calderoni

Băcescu, 1962

Northern Iberian spined loach, Lamprehuela

4 in SL · EN

Cobitis chlorosoma

McClelland, 1839

Zipper loach, Mottled loach

4 in SL · NE

Cobitis choii

Kim & Son, 1984

Choi's spiny loach, Miho spine loach

3.5 in TL · VU

Cobitis crassicauda

Chen & Chen, 2013

3 in SL · NE

Cobitis dalmatina

Karaman, 1928

Dalmatian spined loach

2.5 in SL · EN

Cobitis damlae

Erk'akan & Özdemir, 2014

Dalaman spined loach, Dalaman cave loach

2.5 in SL · NE

Cobitis delicata

Niwa, 1937

Ajime loach, Japanese delicate loach

4.5 in TL · LC

6.5 in SL · LC

Cobitis elongata

Heckel & Kner, 1858

Balkan loach, Danube spined loach

6.5 in SL · LC

Cobitis elongatoides

Băcescu & Mayer, 1969

Danubian spined loach

5.5 in TL · LC

4.5 in SL · EN

Cobitis fahireae

Erk'akan, Atalay-Ekmekçi & Nalbant, 1998

Küçük Menderes spined loach

4 in TL · NE

8.5 in TL · LC

3.5 in SL · NT

5 in TL · LC

Cobitis joergbohleni

Freyhof, Bayçelebi & Geiger, 2018

2 in SL · CR

Cobitis kaibarai

Nakajima, 2012

Japanese striped loach

2 in SL · VU

Cobitis kellei

Erk'akan, Atalay-Ekmekçi & Nalbant, 1998

Göksu spined loach

2 in SL · EX

Cobitis keyvani

Mousavi-Sabet, Yerli, Vatandoust, Özeren & Moradkhani, 2012

3.5 in TL · NE

Cobitis koreensis

Kim, 1975

Korean spined loach

3 in TL · NE

Cobitis laoensis

(Sauvage, 1878)

4 in SL · NE

Cobitis laterimaculata

Yan & Zheng, 1984

China Rainbow Loach

4 in SL · NE

2 in SL · EN

4.5 in TL · LC

Cobitis macrostigma

Dabry de Thiersant, 1872

Largespotted Spiny Loach

5.5 in SL · NE

Cobitis magnostriata

Nakajima, 2012

4.5 in SL · EN

Cobitis maroccana

Pellegrin, 1929

Moroccan spined loach

3 in TL · LC

8 in TL · LC

3 in SL · NT

6 in TL · NE

4 in TL · NT

2.5 in SL · NT

5 in SL · LC

Cobitis pannonica

Heckel, 1848

Pannonian spined loach

5 in TL · NE

4 in SL · NT

Cobitis pumila

Kim & Lee, 1987

Puan spine loach

2.5 in TL · NE

Cobitis puncticulata

Erk'akan, Atalay-Ekmekçi & Nalbant, 1998

Spotted spined loach, Brown spined loach

3 in SL · EN

Cobitis punctilineata

Economidis & Nalbant, 1996

Angitis spined loach

4 in SL · EN

4.5 in SL · NE

Cobitis simplicispina

Hankó, 1925

Sakarya spined loach

5.5 in TL · LC

Cobitis sinensis

Sauvage & Dabry de Thiersant, 1874

Siberian spiny loach, Chinese spiny loach

6 in TL · LC

Cobitis sipahilerae

Erk'akan, Özdemir & Özeren, 2017

3.5 in SL · NE

Cobitis splendens

Erk'akan, Atalay-Ekmekçi & Nalbant, 1998

Splendid spined loach

4 in TL · CR

3.5 in SL · EN

Cobitis striata

Ikeda, 1936

4 in TL · LC

Cobitis strumicae

Karaman, 1955

Struma spined loach

4.5 in SL · LC

Cobitis suborbitalis

Valenciennes, 1846

Cobitis taenia

Linnaeus, 1758

Spined loach, European spined loach

5.5 in SL · LC

Cobitis takatsuensis

Mizuno, 1970

Secret loach, Japanese spined loach

2.5 in TL · NT

Cobitis takenoi

Nakajima, 2016

3.5 in SL · CR

Cobitis tanaitica

Băcescu & Mayer, 1969

Don spined loach

3.5 in SL · LC

Cobitis taurica

Vasil'eva, Vasil'ev, Janko, Ráb & Rábová, 2005

Crimean spined loach

4 in SL · EN

Cobitis tetralineata

Kim, Park & Nalbant, 1999

Korean sand loach

5 in TL · NE

5 in TL · EN

Cobitis turio

Hamilton, 1822

Mottled loach, Zipper loach

6 in TL · NE

Cobitis vardarensis

Karaman, 1928

Vardar spined loach

4.5 in SL · LC

Cobitis vettonica

Doadrio & Perdices, 1997

Vettonian spined loach, Colmilleja del Alagón

3.5 in SL · VU

3 in SL · VU

Cobitis zhejiangensis

Son & He, 2005

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How to cite

Aquarist Atlas (2026). Genus Cobitis. Aquarist Atlas. https://www.aquaristatlas.com/cobitis/

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