[Objectives] Paracanthocobitis belongs to Nemacheilidae (Cypriniformes). It is widely distributed from the Indus River basin in Pakistan to the Mekong River basin in Cambodia and Laos. Only one species P. botia,was recorded in China. During July 2022, some loach specimens were collected from Yingjiang County, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Based on morphological and molecular evidence, they were conspecific with P. mandalayensis, which is a new species record to China. [Methods] In this study, the collected specimens were identified and morphological characteristics were described with reference to research literatures of Paracanthocobitis. Metric traits and vertebrae numbers were measured and counted by electronic vernier calipers and X-ray photography instrument, respectively. Based on COI gene fragments, bayesian inference tree was constructed by Phylosuite 1.2.2 and the genetic distance between individuals of Paracanthocobitis was estimated by p-distance in MEGA X. All new sequences in this study have been uploaded to NCBI GenBank, and other sequences were obtained from NCBI GenBank database (Table 1). [Results] In this paper, our material of P. mandalayensis is fully described, morphological photos (Fig. 1), morphological (Table 2) and molecular (Appendix 1) data for identification are also provided. The main features of P. mandalayensis are papillated pad with median notch on each side of lower lip; a conspicuous black spot (ocellus) close to upper extremity of caudal-fin base; presence of suborbital groove in males; complete lateral line; presence of axillary pelvic lobe; 10? branched dorsal-fin rays; 4﹣8 dark bands on caudal fin. The maximum genetic distance between the collected specimens and individuals of P. mandalayensis in Myanmar is 0.012, while the genetic distances with other species of Paracanthocobitis are 0.129﹣0.189. Therefore, based on morphological and molecular evidences, the specimens in this study are identified as P. mandalayensis. In addition, the minimum genetic distance between the collected specimens and individuals of P. mandalayensis in Thailand is 0.118. There may be cryptic species in P. mandalayensis based on phylogenetic tree (Fig. 2) and disjunction distribution, which also raised questions about the occurrence of P. botia in China. [Conclusion] This study provides a scientific basis for the investigation and conservation of fish resources in Gaoligong Mountain area, as well as new data for the identification of species of genus Paracanthocobitis in Southeast Asia.