Bedotiins are elongated, laterally compressed, and rarely exceed 100 mm in standard length.

[1] Bedotiins occur exclusively in freshwater environments and are distributed in small to medium-sized forested rivers and streams, occasionally in swamps and marshes, spanning nearly the entire eastern slope of Madagascar (R. derhami is recorded from a westward draining Sofia River basin in the northeast of the island).

[1][3] Bedotiin fishes are under severe threat because of rapid deforestation and habitat modification throughout most of their range.

Because Bedotia and Rheocles are generally the first to exhibit population declines or disappear from areas where habitat is moderately to highly disturbed or degraded, they are reliable indicators of ecosystem health and stability.

[1][5] This group is considered by Nelson, 2016 Fishes of the World to be a subfamily of the family Melanotaeniidae.