Saurogobio punctatus can be diagnosed from all its congeners by having numerous minute blackish spots scattered on dorsal and caudal fins (vs. absent in all seven other valid species). It further differs from its congeners by the following unique combination of characters: eight branched rays in dorsal fin (vs. seven rays in S. dumerili, S. lissilabris, S. immaculatus and S. gymnocheilus); chest in front of pectoral origin naked (vs. completely scaled in S. dumerili or with few scales in S. gymnocheilus); both upper and lower lips thick and developed, densely covered with developed papillae (vs. thin and smooth or with reduced papillae in S. lissilabris and S. gymnocheilus); anterior fold of lower lip lacking, discontinued from lateral lobe (vs. absent in S. gracilicaudatus or present but continued with lateral lobe in S. dumerili, S. lissilabris and S. gymnocheilus); lateral lobe continued with central pad of lower lip (vs. discontinued in S. dumerili, S. lissilabris and S. gymnocheilus); a notch anterior to nostrils (vs. a flat head and no obvious notch in S. gymnocheilus or a slight notch in S. dumerili); eye diameter usually larger than interorbital width (vs. smaller than interorbital width in S. gracilicaudatus and S. xiangjiangensis); 44-49 scales on the lateral line (vs. 55-61 in S. dumerili, 52-54 in S. xiangjiangensis and 40-42 in S. immaculatus); and caudal peduncle relative short and deep (vs. peduncle slender in S. gracilicaudatus and S. xiangjiangensis) (Ref. 117924).