Pao barbatus is a species of freshwater pufferfish found in the Mekong River in southeast Asia. It is closely related to Tetraodon (Pao) cambodgiensis and was generally considered a junior synonym of that species until 2013. In the same year its species group was moved from the genus Tetraodon to Pao. References Tetraodontidae Fish described in 1998 Fish of the Mekong Basin