Balitoridae (River loaches) are a family of fishes of the Cyprimiformes. Body length 10-25 cm, weight up to 100 g. The body is naked or covered with scales. Whiskers 3-4 pairs. The head is flattened in dorso-ventral direction. There is no folded spike under the eyes. Occurs in the northern parts of the Arctic and Pacific Ocean basins, in rivers and lakes of Europe and Asia. Freshwater and marine fish. Moustached minnows inhabit fast rivers with rocky and pebbly bottoms, mountain lakes and brackish waters of Baltic lakes; octopus minnows feel well in standing and slow-flowing waters. They mature in the third or fourth year of life. Spawning is batch, from April to June. Fertility is up to 50,000 eggs. Feed on benthic zooplankton, benthic organisms and fish eggs.