Ghost Catfish
Encyclopedia
The Ghost Catfish also known as the Phantom Catfish or Ghost Fish, is an Asian glass catfish. Until 1989, it was considered to be the same as the Glass Catfish
Glass catfish
The Glass Catfish is an Asian glass catfish of the genus Kryptopterus. Until 1989, it included its smaller relative the Ghost Catfish, now known as K. minor. Its scientific name and common name are often still used in the aquarium fish trade to refer to the Ghost Catfish; as it seems, the larger...

 (K. bicirrhis), and even today the latter name is commonly seen in the aquarium
Aquarium
An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...

 fish trade. However, the larger K. bicirrhis does not seem to have ever been traded in significant numbers.

The type locality from which it was described is the primary stream of the Pinoh River (Sungai Pinoh) at Nanga Saian in West Kalimantan
West Kalimantan
West Kalimantan is a province of Indonesia. It is one of four Indonesian provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital city Pontianak is located right on the Equator....

, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

. To locals, both K. minor and K. bicirrhis are collectively known as lais tipis in the Malay language
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...

, but when they want to distinguish the two, they refer to the Ghost Catfish as lais kaca.

Description

This is a transparent
Transparency and translucency
In the field of optics, transparency is the physical property of allowing light to pass through a material; translucency only allows light to pass through diffusely. The opposite property is opacity...

 freshwater
Fresh Water
Fresh Water is the debut album by Australian rock and blues singer Alison McCallum, released in 1972. Rare for an Australian artist at the time, it came in a gatefold sleeve...

 catfish
Catfish
Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...

 with two long barbel
Barbel (anatomy)
A barbel on a fish is a slender, whiskerlike tactile organ near the mouth. Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, sturgeon, the zebrafish and some species of shark...

s. Standard lengths
Fish measurement
Fish measurement refers to the measuring of the length of individual fish and of various parts of their anatomy. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology.-Overall length:...

 may range up to 8 cm (3.1 in) in nature, but aquarium specimens usually average around 6.8 cm (2.7 in) in total length. The head of K. minor is typically darker by comparison. Otherwise, they are transparent and most of their organ
Organ (anatomy)
In biology, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in structural unit to serve a common function. Usually there is a main tissue and sporadic tissues . The main tissue is the one that is unique for the specific organ. For example, main tissue in the heart is the myocardium, while sporadic are...

s are located near the head; with a magnifying glass
Magnifying glass
A magnifying glass is a convex lens that is used to produce a magnified image of an object. The lens is usually mounted in a frame with a handle ....

, their heart can be seen beating. They are transparent because, like all catfish, they have neither scales nor body pigment. When the light strikes the fish just right, it can create an iridescent
Iridescence
Iridescence is generally known as the property of certain surfaces which appear to change color as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes...

 rainbow color. After death, they turn milky white.

Ecology and care

Native to western Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

, these catfish
Catfish
Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...

 prefer tanks with open swimming areas with a moderate current, and planted areas to provide shelter. Timid and non-aggressive fish, they should always be kept as a group of at least five, and can be kept with other fish species of similar size and temperament. Ghost Catfish are highly sensitive to changes in water quality and pH
PH
In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...

. The pH should be slightly acid
Acid
An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...

ic (around 6.5), water hardness
Hard water
Hard water is water that has high mineral content . Hard water has high concentrations of Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions. Hard water is generally not harmful to one's health but can pose serious problems in industrial settings, where water hardness is monitored to avoid costly breakdowns in boilers, cooling...

 should be low (less than 20, ideally less than 10 °dGH
DGH
Degrees of general hardness is a unit of water hardness, specifically of general hardness.General hardness is a measure of the concentration of metal divalent ions such as calcium and magnesium per volume of water...

) and the water temperature should be around 25 °C (77 °F). These fish have a reputation for being finicky eaters; they prefer live food such as mosquito
Mosquito
Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...

 (Culicidae) larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e, bloodworm
Chironomidae
Chironomidae are a family of nematoceran flies with a global distribution. They are closely related to the Ceratopogonidae, Simuliidae, and Thaumaleidae...

s (Chironomidae larvae) and brine shrimp
Brine shrimp
Artemia is a genus of aquatic crustaceans known as brine shrimp. Artemia, the only genus in the family Artemiidae, has changed little externally since the Triassic period...

 (Artemia), but can be weaned to flake food with time.

Kryptopterus
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 + ptéryx...

species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 are different from most other catfish because they are free-swimming and live in the mid- to upper region of the water. Ghost Catfish commonly favor dark places to being out in the open light. A small school
Shoaling and schooling
In biology, any group of fish that stay together for social reasons are said to be shoaling , and if, in addition, the group is swimming in the same direction in a coordinated manner, they are said to be schooling . In common usage, the terms are sometimes used rather loosely...

 of them may hide under elevated rocks, logs, or the shadow of plants. Sometimes, however, one or two may venture out into the open and swim in the upper level of the water. They can be enticed to do this more often if the flow of water in the tank is arranged so that their favorite hiding spots are sheltered, while a gentle current flows in the open areas. Thus, they will move in the open especially at feeding time, as they like to go after food drifting in the current. A generous growth of aquatic plant
Aquatic plant
Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments. They are also referred to as hydrophytes or aquatic macrophytes. These plants require special adaptations for living submerged in water, or at the water's surface. Aquatic plants can only grow in water or in soil that is...

s is necessary for their well-being, and swimming plants can filter out overly bright light, which they seem to find unpleasant.

Breeding has reputedly been achieved in the aquarium, but is not documented. As it seems, they are bred in numbers in outdoor ponds in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

for trade, but details are unknown.

Culinary uses

The Ghost Catfish is a major ingredient of some of the salty fish sauces used in Asian cooking.
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