Ambassidae

Asiatic glassfishes Temporal range: Ypresian to present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Indian glassy fish, Parambassis ranga
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Mugiliformes
Family:	Ambassidae Klunzinger, 1870
Genera [1]
Ambassis Chanda † Dapalis Denariusa Gymnochanda † Kapurdia Parambassis Pseudambassis Pseudoambassis Tetracentrum

The Asiatic glassfishes are a family, the Ambassidae, of freshwater and marine ray-finned fishes. Some species are known as perchlets.

The family has also been called Chandidae, and some sources continue to use the name, ^[2] but as Ambassidae was used earlier, it has precedence over Chandidae, which was first used in 1905. ^[3]

Taxonomy

This family was formerly classified in the order Perciformes but most authorities currently consider this order to be paraphyletic. Currently the Ambassidae are of uncertain affinities ( incertae sedis ) within the subseries Ovalentaria. ^[4]

Description

The largest species reaches a maximum size around 26 cm (10 in). Many of the species are noted for their transparent or semitransparent bodies, which makes them desirable for the aquarium trade. 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]

The species in the family are native to Asia, Oceania, the Indian Ocean, and the western Pacific Ocean. The family includes eight genera ^[1] and about 51 species. ^[6]

Fossils

Dapalis macrurus

The earliest fossil remains of this family are from the Early Eocene, with the fossil genus Kapurdia from the early Eocene of Rajasthan, India ^[7] and otoliths of Ambassis antipodus from the Early Eocene of New Zealand. ^[8] One of the most notable fossil members of the family is Dapalis , which appears to be a stem group-glassfish that was dominant in freshwater and estuarine ecosystems throughout Europe from the Middle Eocene to Middle Miocene, with 21 species known from both fossil skeletons and otoliths. ^{[9] [10]}

References

1. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Ambassidae". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 13 July 2025.
2. "Ambassidae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System . Retrieved 23 July 2025.
3. Morgan, D. L. (2010). "Fishes of the King Edward River in the Kimberley region, Western Australia" (PDF). Records of the Western Australian Museum. 25 (4): 351–368. doi:10.18195/issn.0312-3162.25(4).2010.351-368.
4. Nelson, Joseph S.; Grande, Terry C.; Wilson, Mark V. H. (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons. p. 752. doi:10.1002/9781119174844. ISBN   978-1-118-34233-6.
5. Dawes, J. (2001). Complete Encyclopedia of the Freshwater Aquarium. Firefly Books. p. 289. ISBN   978-1-55297-544-2.
6. "Family: Ambassidae Asiatic glassfishes". www.fishbase.se. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
7. India, Zoological Society of (1969). Journal of the Zoological Society of India. The Society.
8. Schwarzhans, Werner (2019). "Reconstruction of a fossil marine bony fish fauna (Teleostei) from the Eocene to Pleistocene of New Zealand by means of otolith: with studies of recent congroid, morid and trachinoid otoliths". www.vliz.be. Retrieved 2025-01-05.
9. 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.
10. Ahnelt, Harald; Bradić-Milinović, Katarina (2024). "A Unique and Species-Rich Assemblage of Freshwater Glassfishes (Teleostei: Ambassidae: Dapalis) from the lower Oligocene of the Central Paratethys with the Description of Four New Species". Taxonomy. 4 (4): 805–849. doi: 10.3390/taxonomy4040044 . ISSN   2673-6500.