Ambassidae

The Asiatic glassfishes are a family, Ambassidae, of freshwater and marine fishes in the order Perciformes. The species in the family are native to the waters of Asia and Oceania and the Indian and western Pacific Oceans. The family includes eight genera and about fifty species.

The family was formerly known as the Chandidae, a name which ITIS continues to use. FishBase notes that Ambassidae, which was named by Klunzinger in 1870, has priority over Chandidae, which was created by Fowler in 1905.

The Ambassidae reach a maximum size of approximately 26 cm (10 in). Many of the species are noted for their transparent or semi-transparent bodies.

A number of species are used as aquarium fish, noted for their transparent bodies. The Indian glassy fish, Parambassis ranga, is sometimes injected with coloured dyes by dealers in Thailand. The process, known as painting, dyeing or juicing fish is strongly opposed by many in the aquarium community. UK based aquarium publication Practical Fishkeeping has been campaigning since 1997 to stop the trade in these fish and runs a global register of stores who have pledged not to stock them. More than half of the UK's aquarium shops have signed up and the fish are now less common in the UK as a result.

Species

There are about fifty species in eight genera:

• Genus Ambassis
  • Agassiz's olive glassfish, Ambassis agassizii — Steindachner, 1867.
  • Sailfin glass perchlet, Ambassis agrammus — Günther, 1867.
  • Commerson's glassy, Ambassis ambassis — (Lacépède, 1802).
  • Buru glass perchlet, Ambassis buruensis — Bleeker, 1856.
  • Buton glassy perchlet, Ambassis buton — Popta, 1918.
  • Malabar glassy perchlet, Ambassis dussumieri — Cuvier, 1828.
  • Yellowfin glassfish, Ambassis elongatus — (Castelnau, 1878).
  • Dusky glass perch, Ambassis fontoynonti — Pellegrin, 1932.,
  • Bald glassy, Ambassis gymnocephalus — (Lacépède, 1802).
  • Long-spined glass perchlet, Ambassis interrupta — Bleeker, 1852.
  • Port Jackson perchlet, Ambassis jacksoniensis — (Macleay, 1881).
  • Kop's glass perchlet, Ambassis kopsii — Bleeker, 1858.
  • Macleay's glass perchlet, Ambassis macleayi — (Castelnau, 1878).
  • Estuarine glass perchlet, Ambassis macracanthus — Bleeker, 1849.
  • Estuary perchlet, Ambassis marianus — Günther, 1880.
  • Flag-tailed glass perchlet, Ambassis miops — Günther, 1872.
  • Mueller's glassfish, Ambassis muelleri — Klunzinger, 1880.
  • Scalloped perchlet, Ambassis nalua — (Hamilton, 1822).
  • Slender glassy, Ambassis natalensis — Gilchrist & Thompson, 1908.
  • Longspine glassy, Ambassis productus — Guichenot, 1866.
  • Banded-tail glassy perchlet, Ambassis urotaenia — Bleeker, 1852.
  • Vachelli's glass perchlet, Ambassis vachellii — Richardson, 1846.
• Genus Chanda
  • Elongate glass-perchlet, Chanda nama — Hamilton, 1822.
• Genus Denariusa
  • Denariusa australis — (Steindachner, 1867).
  • Pennyfish, Denariusa bandata — Whitley, 1948.
• Genus Gymnochanda
  • Gymnochanda filamentosa — Boeseman, 1957.
  • Gymnochanda flamea — Roberts, 1994.
  • Gymnochanda limi — Kottelat, 1995.
  • Gymnochanda verae — Tan & Lim, 2011.
• Genus Paradoxodacna
  • Paradoxodacna piratica — Roberts, 1989.
• Genus Parambassis
  • High-finned glass perchlet, Parambassis altipinnis — Allen, 1982.
  • Iridescent glassy perchlet, Parambassis apogonoides — (Bleeker, 1851).
  • Sepik glass perchlet, Parambassis confinis — (Weber, 1913).
  • Day's glassy perchlet, Parambassis dayi — (Bleeker, 1874).
  • Giant glassfish, Parambassis gulliveri — (Castelnau, 1878).
  • Highfin glassy perchlet, Parambassis lala — (Hamilton, 1822).
  • Parambassis macrolepis — (Bleeker, 1857).
  • Parambassis pulcinella — Kottelat, 2003.
  • Indian glassy fish, Parambassis ranga — (Hamilton, 1822).
  • Parambassis siamensis — (Fowler, 1937).
  • Parambassis tenasserimensis — Roberts, 1994.
  • Western Ghat glassy perchlet, Parambassis thomassi — (Day, 1870).
  • Parambassis vollmeri — Roberts, 1994.
  • Duskyfin glassy perchlet, Parambassis wolffii — (Bleeker, 1851).
• Genus Pseudambassis
  • Pseudambassis alleni — Datta & Chaudhuri, 1993.
  • Himalayan glassy perchlet, Pseudambassis baculis — (Hamilton, 1822).
  • Pseudambassis roberti — Datta & Chaudhuri, 1993.
• Genus Tetracentrum
  • Four-spined glass perchlet, Tetracentrum apogonoides — (Bleeker, 1851).
  • Kokoda glass perchlet, Tetracentrum caudovittatus — (Norman, 1935).
  • Honess' glass perchlet, Tetracentrum honessi — (Schultz, 1945).

References

• Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2004). "Ambassidae" in FishBase. October 2004 version.
• "Chandidae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=553177. Retrieved 5 December 2004. 
• Practical Fishkeeping magazine
• Tan, Heok Hui & Kelvin K.P. Lim. (2011). A new species of glass-perch from Belitung Island, Indonesia (Teleostei: Ambassidae: Gymnochanda). Zootaxa 3085: 55-62.