Botiidae

Botiidae, the pointface loaches, is a family of cypriniform ray-finned fishes from South, Southeast, and East Asia. Until recently they were placed in the true loach family Cobitidae, until Maurice Kottelat revised the loaches and re-elevated this taxon to family rank in 2012. The family includes about 56 species.

The Botiids are more robust than most of their relatives in Cobitidae and tend to have a more or less arched back, yielding an altogether more fusiform shape. Botiids typically have a pointed snout of intermediate length, while many cobitids are remarkably stub-nosed.

Botiids are generally fairly small, with maximum lengths between 6 and 30 cm (2.4 and 11.8 in) depending on the species involved, although Leptobotia elongata reaches 50 cm (20 in) (Chromobotia macracanthus has been claimed to reach a similar size, but this would be exceptional).