Kryptopterus

Kryptopterus
Ghost Catfish, Kryptopterus minor
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Superclass:	Osteichthyes
Class:	Actinopterygii
Subclass:	Neopterygii
Infraclass:	Teleostei
Superorder:	Ostariophysi
Order:	Siluriformes
Family:	Siluridae
Genus:	Kryptopterus Bleeker, 1858
Diversity
19 species

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, "fin"). It refers to the reduced or even entirely absent dorsal fin of these catfishes.

These small- to medium-sized catfishes often have transparent or translucent bodies, hence their common name Asian glass catfishes. Most significant among these is the Ghost Catfish (K. minor), which is the "glass catfish" most often seen in the aquarium fish trade. It is frequently misidentified as its larger relative the Glass Catfish (K. bicirrhis), which is, however, rarely if ever traded. This was only realized in 1989, however; earlier authors assumed K. minor to be K. bicirrhis by default.

Species

While 19 species have been described as of 2009, the genus Kryprtopterus is notoriously rich in cryptic species. A numvber of these have been recognized in recent years, and more are likely to follow:

• Kryptopterus baramensis Ng, 2002
• Kryptopterus bicirrhis – Glass Catfish
• Kryptopterus cheveyi Durand, 1940
• Kryptopterus cryptopterus
• Kryptopterus dissitus Ng, 2001 – Indochinese Sheatfish
• Kryptopterus geminus
• Kryptopterus hesperius Ng, 2002 – Maeklong Sheatfish
• Kryptopterus lais (Bleeker, 1851)
• Kryptopterus limpok (Bleeker, 1852) – Long-barbel Sheatfish
• Kryptopterus lumholtzi Rendahl, 1922
• Kryptopterus macrocephalus (Bleeker, 1858) – Striped Glass Catfish
• Kryptopterus minor – Ghost Catfish, Phantom Catfish, Ghost Fish
• Kryptopterus mononema (Bleeker, 1847)
• Kryptopterus moorei Smith, 1945
• Kryptopterus palembangensis (Bleeker, 1852)
• Kryptopterus paraschilbeides Ng, 2003
• Kryptopterus piperatus Ng, Wirjoatmodjo & Hadiaty, 2004
• Kryptopterus sabanus (Inger & Chin, 1959)
• Kryptopterus schilbeides (Bleeker, 1858)

Some species formerly placed in Kryptopterus are nowadays in other genera, in particular Phalacronotus but also Micronema and Pterocryptis.

References

• FishBase [2009]: Kryptopterus species. Retrieved 2009-OCT-02.
• PlanetCatfish (2006): Kryptopterus minor. Version of 2006-MAY-10. Retrieved 2009-OCT-02.