Indian Glassfish

PD Photo: Indian Glassfish (Parambassis ranga) in an aquarium

The Indian glassy fish, Parambassis ranga (earlier classified as Chanda ranga), aka Indian glassfish, Indian glass perch and Siamese glassfish, is a species of freshwater fish of the Asiatic glassfish family native to south Asia in an area extending from Pakistan to Malaysia.

The Asiatic glass fishes are freshwater and marine water fishes of the family ‘Ambassidae’ of the order ‘Perciformes’. These are native to freshwater bodies in Asia and Oceania and the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. The family Ambassidae includes eight genera (Ambassis, Chanda, Denariusa, Gymnochanda, Paradoxodacna, Parambassis, Pseudambassis, and Tetracentrum) and about fifty species in these eight genera.

The Indian glassfish has a strikingly transparent body revealing its bones and internal organs. The male glassfish develops a dark edge to the dorsal fin. The fish grows to a length of 8 centimeters (3.1 inches).

Indian glassfish prefer to swim at the middle and lower levels of the aquarium tank and it will eat most small live and frozen foods. Generally they do not prefer dried foods such as flakes. The fish reproduce young ones by females laying eggs and males fertilizing the eggs.

PD Photo: ‘Painted’ Indian Glassfish (Parambassis ranga), color injected by sellers of aquarium fishes

Indian glassfish, Parambassis ranga, is a popular species of aquarium fish noted for their transparent bodies. They are sometimes injected with colored dyes by aquarium fish dealers, using an artificial fish coloring process known as fish painting, fish dyeing or fish juicing.

Dyed glassfish, also known as disco fish, are sold to home aquarium hobbyists often after fish painting by injecting dyes into the fish's transparent tissues to make them more attractive to hobbyists. The artificial coloration fades away within a short time. Healthy, non-painted glassfish may live three to four years in captivity.

In their natural habitats, glassfish are found in still water bodies and it breeds prolifically during the rainy season. They feed on crustaceans, annelid worms, and other invertebrates.

PD Photo: Indian Glassfish in an aquarium, exact species unknown; both the photos show the same species, and are in the same aquarium.