Puntius nigronotus also called as Malabar black-backed barb is a species of fish in the family Cyprinidae in Puntius genus. The species has been discovered in 2012, named and described by Prof. Dr. Mathews Plamoottil, Head of the Department of Zoology, Baby John Memorial Govt. College, Chavara, Kollam, Kerala in 2014. The study and paper on Puntius nigronotus was published in international publications like Journal of Research in Biology in December the same year (2014). It was collected from Mananthavady river in the high altitude hilly Wayanad district in Kerala, India (Western Ghats region). The specific name 'nigronotus (Greek : nigra) refers to the color of the blackish back side of the fish.