Schistura athos Kottelat 2000

Anterior nostril pierced on front side of a flap; processus dentiformis present; lower lip interrupted medially; lateral line complete; anus about 1-2 eye diameters in front of anal-fin origin; 8.5 branched dorsal-fin rays; 5.5 branched anal-fin rays; caudal fin emarginate, with 9+8 branched rays; axillary pelvic lobe present; Head broadly triangular; caudal peduncle 1.1-1.2 times longer than deep; cheeks mottled; top of head finely dotted; body yellowish with a broad faint grey midlateral stripe; 7-9 broad blackish brown bars on body, usually wider than interspaces, wider anteriorly than posteriorly, usually wider on lateral line and on dorsal midline and constricted in-between; black bar at caudal-fin base not reaching dorsal and ventral midline; a black spot above base of upper principal rays; dorsal fin with two low blotches along base (Ref. 36949).

Schistura athos is a species of ray-finned fish in the stone loach genus Schistura, its specific name athos is from, Athos, one of the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, as do that of two other Schistura species endemic to the Nam Ou basin, S. aramis and S.porthos. It has only been recorded from the Nam Ou basin in Laos, as well as from a stretch of the Nam Noua, a tributary of the Nam Ou, in Vietnam. S. athos has been collected from rapids and stretches of the main river with stone substrates.