# Glyptothorax

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

There are currently 121 recognized species in this genus:
* Glyptothorax alaknandi Tilak, 1969
* Glyptothorax alidaeii Mousavi-Sabet, Eagderi, Vatandoust and Freyhof, 2021
* Glyptothorax anamalaiensis Silas, 1952
* Glyptothorax annandalei Hora, 1923
* Glyptothorax armeniacus (L. S. Berg, 1918) (Armenian mountain catfish)
* Glyptothorax ater Anganthoibi & Vishwanath, 2011
* 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 chimtuipuiensis Anganthoibi & Vishwanath, 2010
* Glyptothorax chindwinica Vishwanath & Linthoingambi, 2007
* 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 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 dorsalis Vinciguerra, 1890
* Glyptothorax elankadensis Plamoottil & Abraham, 2013 (Travancore rock catfish)
* Glyptothorax exodon H. H. Ng & Rachmatika, 2005
* Glyptothorax filicatus H. H. Ng & Freyhof, 2008
* Glyptothorax fokiensis (Rendahl (de), 1925)
* 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 galaxias, Mousavi-Sabet & Eagderi & Vatandoust & Freyhof, 2021
* Glyptothorax garhwali Tilak, 1969
* 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 honghensis S. S. Li, 1984
* Glyptothorax horai (Fowler, 1934)
* Glyptothorax hosseinpanahii, Mousavi-Sabet & Eagderi & Vatandoust & Freyhof, 2021
* Glyptothorax housei Herre, 1942
* Glyptothorax igniculus H. H. Ng & S. O. Kullander, 2013
* Glyptothorax indicus Talwar, 1991
* Glyptothorax interspinalum (Đ. Y. Mai, 1978)
* Glyptothorax jalalensis Balon (pl) & K. Hensel, 1970
* Glyptothorax jayarami Rameshori & Vishwanath, 2012
* 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 laak (Popta, 1904)
* 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 mibangi Darshan, Dutta, Kachari, Gogoi & D. N. Das, 2015
* Glyptothorax minimaculatus S. S. Li, 1984
* Glyptothorax naziri Mirza & I. U. Naik, 1969
* 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 obscurus S. S. Li, 1984)
* 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 punjabensis Mirza & Kashmiri, 1971
* Glyptothorax quadriocellatus (Đ. Y. Mai, 1978)
* Glyptothorax radiolus H. H. Ng & Lalramliana, 2013
* 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 scrobiculus H. H. Ng & Lalramliana, 2012
* Glyptothorax senapatiensis Premananda, Kosygin & Saidullah, 2015
* Glyptothorax shapuri Mousavi-Sabet, Eagderi, Vatandoust, & Freyhof 2021
* Glyptothorax siamensis Hora, 1923
* 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 zanaensis X. W. Wu, M. J. He & X. L. Chu, 1981
* Glyptothorax zhujiangensis Y. H. Lin, 2003
* Glyptothorax pongoensis Tenali, Singh, Pratap, Phom, Ratnaraju & Kosygin, 2024