Distinguished from all congeners by the following combination of characters: rostral barbel present; mandibular barbel present; lateral line abbreviated, rarely absent; color pattern consisting of vertical bars or spots anteriorly on side, horizontal stripes posteriorly on side; branched dorsal-fin rays 7 1/2; circumpeduncular scale rows 10. Similar to Danio choprae but differs from this species by slightly more slender body (22.5-26.6 % SL vs. 26.6-31.6% SL), longer caudal peduncle (20.5-24.7 % SL vs. 16.1-19.1 % SL), shorter anal-fin base (14.2-18.3 % SL vs. 19.2- 23.9 % SL), longer rostral barbel (10.3-18.7 % SL vs. 5.9-10.1 % SL), reaching caudally beyond preopercular margin in adults (vs. not reaching posterior margin of orbit); longer maxillary barbel reaching to below pectoral-fin base in adults (vs. not reaching to pectoral-fin base), lateral line almost always present, on up to seven scales (vs. almost always absent, occasionally on up to three scales), more vertebrae contained in caudal peduncle (9-10 vs. 6-8), fewer anal-fin rays (9 1/2- 11 1/2 branched rays vs. 12 1/2-13 1/2, rarely 11 1/2), anal-fin base hyaline (vs. anal-fin base dark), and black streak absent from lower lobe of caudal fin (vs. usually present) (Ref. 93124).