''Kryptopterus bicirrhis'', often called the glass catfish, is an Asian glass catfish species of the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Kryptopterus ''Kryptopterus'' is a genus of catfishes belonging to the family Siluridae. They are found in freshwater throughout Southeast Asia. The scientific name comes from Ancient Greek ''kryptós'' (κρυπτός, "hidden") + ''ptéryx'' (πτέρυξ, ...

''. Until 1989, the concept of ''K. bicirrhis'' included its smaller relative ''

Kryptopterus vitreolus ''Kryptopterus vitreolus'', known commonly as the glass catfish, the glass cat, the ghost catfish or the phantom catfish, is a small species of translucent-bodied, social glass catfish in the family Siluridae. It is commonly seen in captivity an ...

'' ("ghost catfish"; often confused with '' K. minor''). Its

scientific name In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''K. bicirrhis'' and

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

glass catfish are often still used in the

aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

fish trade to refer to the actual ''K. vitreolus''; as it seems, the larger and more aggressive true ''K. bicirrhis'' was only ever

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is a ...

ed in insignificant numbers. In western

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

, where ''K. minor'' and ''K. bicirrhis'' are

sympatric In biology, two closely related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter each other. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct spe ...

, both species are known as ''lais tipis'' in the

Malay language Malay ( , ; , Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoken primarily by Malays (ethnic group), Malays in several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on the mainland Asia. The lang ...

, but when locals want to distinguish the two, they refer to ''K. minor'' as ''lais limpok''. In

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

it is known as ''trey kes prak'' () and used to make the fermented fish paste '' prahok''.

Description

The true ''K. bicirrhis'' is easily separated from ''K. vitreolus''. ''K. bicirrhis'' reaches a significantly larger size, up to

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of fish anatomy, their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is ...

, and most of its body is not clearly transparent (only obviously transparent around the head). The body of ''K. bicirrhis'' is mostly opaque and light greyish. When struck by light, it has an

iridescence Iridescence (also known as goniochromism) is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear gradually to change colour as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Iridescence is caused by wave interference of light in microstru ...

, and it turns milky white as it dies. It has two long barbels for locating food, which are as long again as the body in front of the anal fin. The

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

is reduced to a tiny triangle, and the

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

s are longer than the head.

Ecology

''Kryptopterus bicirrhis'' is found in

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

, the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

, and the Chao Phraya and

Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth-longest river and the third-longest in Asia with an estimated length of and a drainage area of , discharging of wat ...

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

s. This freshwater

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order (biology), order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are common name, named for their prominent barbel (anatomy), barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not ...

inhabits large

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

s with turbid water, where they typically live near the shore in fast-flowing water. It seems to prefer

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

y water with a rather low temperature for its

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

range, around . It is a diurnal

predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

and mainly eats water bugs and occasionally smaller fishes.

Research with Magnetic Fields

''Kryptopterus bicirrhis are'' extremely responsive to magnetic stimuli and are known to have electroreceptor organs already. Typically, fish that have this sensitivity to magnetic stimuli are migratory and use this for their sense of direction, but they are nonmigratory fish. The ''Kryptopterus bicirrhis'' swim away from any

magnetic field A magnetic field (sometimes called B-field) is a physical field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular ...

above the value of 20 μT ( microtesla). This is due to their EPG (electromagnetic perceptive gene), that of which increases the calcium content in the animal’s cells when the EMF (electromagnetic field) is stronger. This research may, in the future, have great impacts on how we might control cell activity without having to physically touch cells. This might help to increase the amount of noninvasive brain surgeries, granted more research gets done.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q392294 Siluridae Fish of Asia Fish of the Mekong Basin Fish of Cambodia Freshwater fish of Indonesia Fish of Laos Freshwater fish of Malaysia Fish of Thailand Fish of Vietnam Fish described in 1840

Description

Ecology

Research with Magnetic Fields

See also

References