Genus · Loaches

Turcinoemacheilus

Turcinoemacheilus is a genus with 7 species in this atlas, catalogued in the Loaches section, recorded from Iran, Nepal, Turkey and Iraq. Adult sizes run from 1.5 in to 3.5 in. Every species below links to a full researched profile.

Species in atlas
7
Adult sizes
1.5–3.5 in
IUCN assessed
7 of 7
Recorded from
4 countries

About the genus

Turcinoemacheilus is a genus of small stone loaches in the family Nemacheilidae, spread across a broad but patchy swath of southwestern and southern Asia — the atlas has records from Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Nepal. The 7 species in the atlas are small, mostly between about 3.8 and 3.5 in, and like other nemacheilids they are slender, bottom-hugging fish with a flattened head, barbels around the mouth, and little to no true scaling along much of the body, adaptations for holding position and foraging on the substrate of cool, flowing streams.

Only the Zagros dwarf loach (Turcinoemacheilus kosswigi), from the Zagros mountain drainages of Iran, carries an English common name in the atlas; the rest of the genus is essentially undescribed in aquarist literature and has no meaningful presence in the trade. Conservation data are sparse — six of the seven species in the atlas have not yet been formally assessed by the IUCN, and only one carries a Least Concern rating, which mostly reflects how little survey work has reached these small, geographically scattered stream loaches rather than any confirmed conservation status.

IUCN Red List: Least Concern · 1 Not Evaluated · 6

The 7 species

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

Esmaeili, Sayyadzadeh, Özulug, Geiger & Freyhof, 2014

3.5 in SL · NE

Golzarianpour, Abdoli, Patimar & Freyhof, 2013

2.5 in SL · NE

Conway, Edds, Shrestha & Mayden, 2011

2.5 in SL · NE

Limbu, Rajbanshi, Limbu & Gurung, 2026

1.5 in SL · NE

Bănărescu & Nalbant, 1964

Zagros dwarf loach, Hakkari dwarf loach, Kosswig's loach

2 in SL · LC

Esmaeili, Sayyadzadeh, Özulug, Geiger & Freyhof, 2014

1.5 in SL · NE

Esmaeili, Sayyadzadeh, Özulug, Geiger & Freyhof, 2014

2.5 in SL · NE

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How to cite

Aquarist Atlas (2026). Genus Turcinoemacheilus. Aquarist Atlas. https://www.aquaristatlas.com/turcinoemacheilus/

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