''Parambassis ranga'', commonly known as the Indian glassy fish, Indian glassy perch, or Indian X-ray fish, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

in the Asiatic glassfish

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Ambassidae. It is native to an area of

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

from

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. The Indian glassy fish has an extraordinarily transparent body, revealing its bones and internal organs; the male develops a dark edge to 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 ...

. The fish grows to a maximum overall length of . It occurs in standing water, especially in impoundments, and it breeds prolifically during the rainy season. The species feeds on

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

annelid The annelids (), also known as the segmented worms, are animals that comprise the phylum Annelida (; ). The phylum contains over 22,000 extant species, including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to vario ...

worms, and other

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

s. It is, in turn, prey for larger fish, including snakeheads (family Channidae). The Indian glassy fish is not important as a food fish for humans, but is very common 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 ...

trade. Formerly classified as ''Chanda ranga,'' the species is also known as the Indian glassfish, Indian glass perch, and Siamese glassfish.

In the aquarium

Glassfish have been kept in aquarium for many years, but have a reputation for being delicate and difficult to keep. This may be related to a persistent myth that these fish need

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

water. In the wild, they more commonly inhabit fresh water, and in captivity do well in slightly soft to moderately hard dGH 7–19, slightly acidic to slightly alkaline water pH 6.5–7.5. They can tolerate a temperature range of . These fish swim at the middle and lower levels of the tank, and will take most small live and frozen foods. In general, they tend not to eat dried foods (such as flake). The fish reproduce by laying the eggs (females) and then the males fertilize the eggs.

Dyed glassfish

Indian glassy fish sold to hobbyists have often been " painted", which involves injecting coloured dye into the fish's transparent tissue to make them more attractive to hobbyists. These coloured fish are often called "disco fish". Inexperienced fishkeepers are often tricked into believing such fish are natural and not told that the process is not painless and causes kidney damage to the fish.Wet Web Media
Painted_Indian_Glassy_Fish

Fish thus treated have suffered trauma and are susceptible to disease, including '' Ichthyophthirius multifiliis'' infection, fin rot, and the viral disease lymphocystis. The artificial coloration often fades within a short time. Healthy, unpainted specimens may live three to four years in captivity, but such individuals may be difficult to find in some localities.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1661574 ranga Fish of Asia Fish of Pakistan Fish of India Fish described in 1822 Taxa named by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton

In the aquarium

Dyed glassfish

See also

References