The Asiatic glassfishes are a family, the Ambassidae, of freshwater and marine fishes that were formerly classified in the order Perciformes, but most authorities consider this order to be paraphyletic and that the Ambassidae are of uncertain affinities, incertae sedis, but within the subseries Ovalentaria.[2] The species in the family are native to Asia, Oceania, the Indian Ocean, and the western Pacific Ocean. The family includes eight genera and about 51 species.[3] Some species are known as perchlets.
Asiatic glassfishes Temporal range:
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Indian glassy fish, Parambassis ranga | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
(unranked): | Ovalentaria |
Family: | Ambassidae Klunzinger, 1870 |
Genera[1] | |
Ambassis |
The largest species reaches a maximum size around 26 cm (10 in). Many of the species are noted for their transparent or semitransparent bodies.[4]
Several species are used as aquarium fish, noted for their transparent bodies. The Indian glassy fish (Parambassis ranga) is transparent, but showier specimens that had been injected with artificial coloring were sold as novelty pets in the 1990s. Since then, these "painted fish" have become much less popular, with more fishkeepers seeking naturally pigmented specimens.[5]
One of the oldest known fossil members of the family is Dapalis, which appears to be a stem group-glassfish with fossil otoliths known as far back as the Late Cretaceous.[6][7] Full-body fossils of Dapalis become particularly common in the Late Oligocene and Early Miocene of Europe.
Naming history
editThe family has also been called Chandidae, and some sources continue to use the name. Because Ambassidae was used first, in 1870, it has precedence over Chandidae, which was first used in 1905.[8]
References
edit- ^ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2012). "Ambassidae" in FishBase. December 2012 version.
- ^ J. S. Nelson; T. C. Grande; M. V. H. Wilson (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Wiley. p. 752. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6. Archived from the original on 2019-04-08. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
- ^ "Fish Identification". www.fishbase.se. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
- ^ "Fish Identification: Find family". www.fishbase.se. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
- ^ Dawes, J. Complete Encyclopedia of the Freshwater Aquarium. Firefly Books. 2001. page 289.
- ^ Ghazali, Siti Zafirah; Lavoué, Sébastien; Sukmono, Tedjo; Habib, Ahasan; Tan, Min Pau; Nor, Siti Azizah Mohd (2023). "Cenozoic colonisation of the Indian Ocean region by the Australian freshwater-originating glassperch family Ambassidae (Teleostei)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 186: 107832. Bibcode:2023MolPE.18607832G. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2023.107832. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 37263456.
- ^ Nolf, Dick (2003). "Fish otoliths from the Santonian of the Pyrenean faunal province, and an overview of all otolith- documented North Atlantic Late Cretaceous teleosts". Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique - Bulletin van het Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen. 73: 155–173.
- ^ Morgan, D. L. (2010). Fishes of the King Edward River in the Kimberley region, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 25: 351–68.