Genus · Loaches

Pteronemacheilus

Pteronemacheilus is a genus with 2 species in this atlas, catalogued in the Loaches section, recorded from China, Laos and Myanmar. Adult sizes run from 2 in to 2 in. Every species below links to a full researched profile.

Species in atlas
2
Adult sizes
2 in
IUCN assessed
2 of 2
Recorded from
3 countries

About the genus

Pteronemacheilus is a small genus of stone loaches in the family Nemacheilidae, known from streams in China, Laos, and Myanmar. The genus's 2 species in the atlas are modest in size, 2 in, with the elongated, cylindrical body and small ventral mouth typical of nemacheilid loaches - adaptations for a bottom-dwelling life in flowing water, sifting sediment for small invertebrates and organic matter.

Neither Pteronemacheilus lucidorsum nor P. meridionalis has an established presence in the aquarium hobby, and detailed care or behavioural information is sparse outside of the taxonomic literature describing them. Conservation data are similarly thin - one species has not yet been evaluated and the other is Data Deficient - typical of small stream loaches from parts of mainland Southeast Asia that remain incompletely surveyed.

IUCN Red List: Data Deficient · 1 Not Evaluated · 1

The 2 species

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

Bohlen & Ŝlechtová, 2011

2 in SL · NE

(Zhu, 1982)

2 in SL · DD

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How to cite

Aquarist Atlas (2026). Genus Pteronemacheilus. Aquarist Atlas. https://www.aquaristatlas.com/pteronemacheilus/

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