Traccatichthys is a small genus of loaches native to southern China, Vietnam, and Laos. As with related loaches in this part of the family tree, they are elongated, bottom-dwelling fish adapted to flowing streams, typically found over gravel or rocky substrate where they forage among cover.
The genus is best known in the hobby through the peppermint loach, a common name shared by Traccatichthys taeniatus and T. tuberculum, alongside the China rainbow loach (T. pulcher). These are modestly sized fish by loach standards, with atlas species reaching roughly 3–5 in as adults. Documentation is thin across the genus - three of the five atlas species are Not Evaluated by the IUCN - so much of what circulates about them in the hobby leans on aquarist observation rather than published research.