Glyptothorax is a genus of catfishes order Siluriformes of the family Sisoridae. It is the most species-rich and widely distributed genus in the family with new species being discovered on a regular basis. These species are distributed in the Black Sea basin, northern Turkey, south and east to the Yangtze River drainage in China and south throughout Indo-China to Java, Indonesia. They are found in Asia Minor (in the Tigris and Euphrates River drainages) and southwards to Southeast Asia. The genus is very diverse in the Indian subcontinent. Southeast Asian species tend to have restricted distributions.
Description This genus is easily distinguished from other sisorids by having an adhesive apparatus on the thorax with grooves parallel or oblique to the longitudinal axis of the body, as opposed to grooves transverse to the longitudinal axis of body or the thoracic adhesive apparatus entirely absent. The dorsal fin and pectoral fins have strong spines. The dorsal fin spine is smooth or serrate on the front edge and smooth or finely serrated on the posterior edge. The pectoral fin spine is serrated on the front edge. The head is small and depressed and the snout is conical. The body is elongate, from moderately to greatly depressed. The skin is either smooth or tuberculate. The eyes are small and dorsally placed. The lips are thick, fleshy and often papillate. The maxillary barbels have a well-developed membrane and a soft base. The gill openings are wide. The paired fins are plaited and modified to form an adhesive apparatus in some species of Glyptothorax.
Ecology Like other sisorids, these fish are rheophilic, that is they inhabit fast-flowing streams, where they are adapted to live by using the adhesive apparatus on the underside to attach themselves to rocks and prevent being washed away.
Species These are the currently recognized species in this genus: Glyptothorax alaknandi Tilak, 1969 Glyptothorax amnestus Ng & Kottelat, 2016 Glyptothorax anamalaiensis Silas, 1952 Glyptothorax annandalei Hora, 1923 Glyptothorax armeniacus (L. S. Berg, 1918) (Armenian mountain catfish) Glyptothorax ater Anganthoibi & Vishwanath, 2011 Glyptothorax bhurainu Vijayakrishnan & Shinde, 2025 Glyptothorax botius (F. Hamilton, 1822) Glyptothorax brevipinnis Hora, 1923 Glyptothorax buchanani H. M. Smith, 1945 Glyptothorax burmanicus Prashad & Mukerji, 1929 Glyptothorax callopterus H. M. Smith, 1945 Glyptothorax caudimaculatus Anganthoibi & Vishwanath, 2011 Glyptothorax cavia (F. Hamilton, 1822) Glyptothorax chakpiensis Shangningam & Kosygin, 2025 Glyptothorax chimtuipuiensis Anganthoibi & Vishwanath, 2010 Glyptothorax churamanii Rameshori & Vishwanath, 2012 Glyptothorax clavatus Rameshori & Vishwanath, 2014 Glyptothorax conirostris (Steindachner, 1867) Glyptothorax coracinus H. H. Ng & Rainboth, 2008 Glyptothorax cous (Linnaeus, 1766) Glyptothorax daemon Freyhof, Kaya, Abdullah & Geiger, 2021 Glyptothorax dakpathari Tilak & Husain, 1976 Glyptothorax davissinghi Manimekalan & H. S. Das, 1998 Glyptothorax decussatus H. H. Ng & Kottelat, 2016 Glyptothorax deqinensis T. P. Mo & X. L. Chu, 1986 Glyptothorax dikrongensis Tamang & Chaudhry, 2011 Glyptothorax distichus Kosygin, Singh & Gurumayum, 2020 Glyptothorax dorsalis Vinciguerra, 1890 Glyptothorax elankadensis Plamoottil & Abraham, 2013 (Travancore rock catfish) Glyptothorax exodon H. H. Ng & Rachmatika, 2005 Glyptothorax famelicus Ng & Kottelat, 2016 Glyptothorax filicatus H. H. Ng & Freyhof, 2008 Glyptothorax forabilis H. H. Ng & Kottelat, 2017 Glyptothorax fucatus W. S. Jiang, H. H. Ng, J. X. Yang & X. Y. Chen, 2012 Glyptothorax fuscus Fowler, 1934 Glyptothorax garhwali Tilak, 1969 Glyptothorax giudikyensis Kosygin, Singh & Gurumayum, 2020 Glyptothorax gopii Kosygin, Das, Singh & Chowdhury, 2019 Glyptothorax gracilis (Günther, 1864) Glyptothorax granosus W. S. Jiang, H. H. Ng, J. X. Yang & X. Y. Chen, 2012 Glyptothorax granulus Vishwanath & Linthoingambi, 2007 Glyptothorax hainanensis (Nichols & C. H. Pope, 1927) Glyptothorax heokheei Singh, Chowdhury, Gurumayum & Kosygin, 2023 Glyptothorax himalaicus Vijayakrishnan & Shinde, 2025 Glyptothorax honghensis S. S. Li, 1984 Glyptothorax horai (Fowler, 1934) Glyptothorax housei Herre, 1942 Glyptothorax hymavatiae Tenali, Adak, Chandran, Singh, Sarkar & Banerjee, 2025 Glyptothorax igniculus H. H. Ng & S. O. Kullander, 2013 Glyptothorax indicus Talwar, 1991 Glyptothorax interspinalum (Đ. Y. Mai, 1978) Glyptothorax irroratus Ng & Kottelat, 2023 Glyptothorax jalalensis Balon (pl) & K. Hensel, 1970 Glyptothorax jayarami Rameshori & Vishwanath, 2012 Glyptothorax kailashi Kosygin, Singh & Mitra, 2020 Glyptothorax kashmirensis Hora, 1923 Glyptothorax keluk H. H. Ng & Kottelat, 2016 Glyptothorax ketambe H. H. Ng & Hadiaty, 2009 Glyptothorax kudremukhensis K. C. Gopi, 2007 Glyptothorax kurdistanicus (L. S. Berg, 1931) Glyptothorax lairamkhullensis Devi, Linthoingambi & Singh, 2023 Glyptothorax lampris Fowler, 1934 Glyptothorax lanceatus H. H. Ng, W. S. Jiang & X. Y. Chen, 2012 Glyptothorax laosensis Fowler, 1934 Glyptothorax lonah (Sykes, 1839) Glyptothorax longicauda S. S. Li, 1984 Glyptothorax longinema S. S. Li, 1984 Glyptothorax longjiangensis T. P. Mo & X. L. Chu, 1986 Glyptothorax maceriatus H. H. Ng & Lalramliana, 2012 Glyptothorax macromaculatus S. S. Li, 1984 Glyptothorax madraspatanus (F. Day, 1873) Glyptothorax major (Boulenger, 1894) Glyptothorax malabarensis K. C. Gopi, 2010 Glyptothorax manipurensis Menon, 1955 Glyptothorax medogensis Chen & He, 2024 Glyptothorax mibangi Darshan, Dutta, Kachari, Gogoi & D. N. Das, 2015 Glyptothorax minimaculatus S. S. Li, 1984 Glyptothorax motbungensis Premananda & Singh, 2023 Glyptothorax nelsoni Ganguly, N. C. Datta & S. Sen, 1972 Glyptothorax ngapang Vishwanath & Linthoingambi, 2007 Glyptothorax nieuwenhuisi (Vaillant, 1902) Glyptothorax obliquimaculatus W. S. Jiang, X. Y. Chen & J. X. Yang, 2010 Glyptothorax palakkadiensis Singh & Kosygin, 2025 Glyptothorax pallens Mousavi-Sabet, Eagderi, Vatandoust & Freyhof, 2021 Glyptothorax pallozonus (S. Y. Lin, 1934) Glyptothorax panda Ferraris & Britz, 2005 Glyptothorax pantherinus Anganthoibi & Vishwanath, 2013 Glyptothorax pasighatensis Arunkumar, 2016 Glyptothorax pectinopterus (McClelland, 1842) (River catfish) Glyptothorax pedunculatus Roberts, 2021 Glyptothorax pictus H. H. Ng & Kottelat, 2016 Glyptothorax platypogon Valenciennes, 1840 Glyptothorax platypogonides (Bleeker, 1855) Glyptothorax plectilis H. H. Ng & Hadiaty, 2008 Glyptothorax pongoensis Tenali, Singh, Pratap, Phom, Ratnaraju & Kosygin, 2024 Glyptothorax poonaensis Hora, 1938 Glyptothorax porrectus H. H. Ng & Kottelat, 2017 Glyptothorax prashadi Mukerji, 1932 Glyptothorax primusplicae Shangningam & Kosygin, 2023 Glyptothorax prionotos Ng & Kottelat, 2023 Glyptothorax pulcher Zeng et al., 2026Zeng, Y. Y., Lin, F., Yang, H. F., Pu, X. R., Jiang, W. S., & Chen, X. Y. (2026). Glyptothorax pulcher (Siluriformes, Sisoridae), a new species from the upper Pearl River of Yunnan and Guangxi, southwest China. Zoosystematics and Evolution, 102(1), 17–26. https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.102.167142 Glyptothorax punjabensis Mirza & Kashmiri, 1971 Glyptothorax punyabratai Tenali, Sarkar, Chandran & Singh, 2024 Glyptothorax quadriocellatus (Đ. Y. Mai, 1978) Glyptothorax radiolus H. H. Ng & Lalramliana, 2013 Glyptothorax rara Chen & He, 2024 Glyptothorax robustus (Boeseman, 1966) Glyptothorax rugimentum H. H. Ng & Kottelat, 2008 Glyptothorax rupiri (L. Kosygin, P. Singh & S. Rath, 2021) Glyptothorax saisii (J. T. Jenkins, 1910) Glyptothorax sardashtensis Jokar, Kamangar, Ghaderi & Freyhof 2023 Glyptothorax schmidti (Volz, 1904)
Glyptothorax sentimereni
Glyptothorax scrobiculus H. H. Ng & Lalramliana, 2012 Glyptothorax senapatiensis Premananda, Kosygin & Saidullah, 2015 Glyptothorax siangensis Singh, Kosygin, Rath & Gurumayum, 2024 Glyptothorax silviae Coad, 1981 Glyptothorax sinensis (Regan, 1908) Glyptothorax steindachneri (Pietschmann, 1913) (Steindachner’s catfish) Glyptothorax stibaros H. H. Ng & Kottelat, 2016 Glyptothorax stocki Mirza & Nijssen, 1978 Glyptothorax stolickae (Steindachner, 1867) Glyptothorax strabonis H. H. Ng & Freyhof, 2008 Glyptothorax striatus (McClelland, 1842) Glyptothorax sufii K. Asghar Bashir & Mirza, 1975 Glyptothorax sykesi (F. Day, 1873) Glyptothorax telchitta (Hamilton, 1822) Glyptothorax trewavasae Hora, 1938 Glyptothorax trilineatus Blyth, 1860 (Three-lined catfish) Glyptothorax vatandousti Jouladeh-Roudbar, Ghanavi & Freyhof, 2023 Glyptothorax ventrolineatus Vishwanath & Linthoingambi, 2006 Glyptothorax verrucosus Rameshori & Vishwanath, 2012 Glyptothorax viridis Shangningam & Kosygin, 2023 Glyptothorax waikhomi Shangningam & Kosygin, 2022 Glyptothorax yuensis Shangningam & Kosygin, 2022 Glyptothorax zanaensis X. W. Wu, M. J. He & X. L. Chu, 1981 Glyptothorax zeiladensis Shangningam, Kosygin & Gurumayum, 2024 Glyptothorax zhujiangensis Y. H. Lin, 2003 Synonyms Glyptothorax alidaeii Mousavi-Sabet, Eagderi, Vatandoust & Freyhof, 2021; valid as Glyptothorax silviae Glyptothorax chavomensis Arunkumar & Moyon, 2017; valid as Glyptothorax ngapang Glyptothorax chindwinica Vishwanath & Linthoingambi, 2007; valid as Glyptothorax burmanicus Glyptothorax coheni Ganguly, Datta & Sen, 1972; valid as Glyptothorax saisii Glyptothorax fokiensis (Rendahl (de), 1925); valid as Glyptothorax sinensis Glyptothorax galaxias Mousavi-Sabet, Eagderi, Vatandoust & Freyhof, 2021; valid as Glyptothorax silviae Glyptothorax hosseinpanahii Mousavi-Sabet, Eagderi, Vatandoust & Freyhof, 2021; valid as Glyptothorax silviae Glyptothorax laak (Popta, 1904); valid as Glyptothorax nieuwenhuisi Glyptothorax merus Li, 1984; valid as Glyptothorax interspinalum Glyptothorax minutus Hora, 1921; valid as Glyptothorax dorsalis Glyptothorax naziri Mirza & I. U. Naik, 1969; valid as Glyptothorax kashmirensis Glyptothorax obscurus S. S. Li, 1984); valid as Glyptothorax quadriocellatus Glyptothorax rubermentus Li, 1984; valid as Glyptothorax longinema Glyptothorax shapuri Mousavi-Sabet, Eagderi, Vatandoust, & Freyhof 2021; valid as Glyptothorax silviae Glyptothorax siamensis Hora, 1923; valid as Glyptothorax schmidti Glyptothorax spectrum Kottelat, 2001; valid as Glyptothorax quadriocellatus Glyptothorax trilineatoides Li, 1984; valid as Glyptothorax trilineatus
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