Esomus, the flying barbs, is a genus of small cyprinids from South and Southeast Asia, immediately recognizable by a pair of very long, whip-like maxillary barbels that can trail back past the body. The atlas's countries for the genus, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Laos, and Sri Lanka, track the region's floodplains, rice paddies, and slow, vegetated waters. Esomus species are surface-oriented fish with an upturned mouth and a body built for skittering and leaping across the water's surface, the trait behind the 'flying' name, and they are well adapted to the seasonal flooding typical of the region. The atlas covers 8 species, ranging from about 1.5–5 in.
Esomus has a modest but steady presence in the aquarium hobby as an active, surface-dwelling alternative to typical danios and rasboras, with the flying barb (Esomus danrica) and the Burmese flying barb (E. ahli) the names most likely to turn up in the trade. Because they are strong jumpers, tanks need secure, gap-free lids. Conservation status across the genus is encouraging: six of the eight atlas species are rated Least Concern and the remaining two are Data Deficient, with no species yet carrying a CARES designation.