Puntius

Puntius is a genus of ray-finned fishes in the family Cyprinidae of the order Cypriniformes. Fishes of this genus are known as the spotted barbs for the predominant pattern, though many have vertical black bands instead. Also, the Spotted Barb proper is one particular species, Puntius binotatus. The name Puntius comes from pungti, a Bengali term for small cyprinids. The type species is the Pool Barb (Puntius sophore), first described as Cyprinus sophore by Hamilton in 1822.

Historically, many species of Puntius have been classified in several genera, including Barbus. Despite the reclassifications, the specific epithet remains the same in these – except in cases of homonymies –, as Barbus and Puntius have the same grammatical gender. The closest living relatives of the spotted barbs are the Cyprinion barbs, the Assamese Kingfish (Semiplotus semiplotus), and perhaps the Capoeta barbs. These and the other "typical" barbs and barbels were formerly often separated as subfamily Barbinae, but this group is highly paraphyletic with regards to the Cyprininae and better merged there at least for the largest part (including Puntius). In particular the genus Barbonymus, containing the Tinfoil Barb and its relatives, – for some time included in Puntius – appears to be a kind of carp that has evolved convergently with barbs.