The "Ghost catfish" has been kept for more than 80 years under a wrong name in our tanks. Initially it was determined as Kryptopterus bicirrhis, afterwards as K. minor. However, both determinations proofed to be wrong, the species was in fact new to science and still undescribed! Now it has a final name, ie Kryptopterus vitreolus. Please see here for more details of the case and pictures of K. vitreolus and the "real" K. bicirrhis.

 

Now we were curious how the "real" Kryptopterus minor looks like! So we ordered from one of our suppliers in Indonesia glass catfish from the Kapuas River on Borneo, where K. minor occurs. The species is in fact very similar to K. vitreolus. Especially in our fish, which have shown size (up to 8 cm), the morphological differences between K. minor and K. vitreolus are hardly recognizable. But there are very obvious differences in coloration. K. minor has a bright golden-yellow back, a iridescent stripe over the anal fin and bright blue eyes.

 

Like Kryptopterus vitreolus K. minor lives in very soft, acidic water in the wild. However, adaptation on other water conditions is very good, as it is in cardinal tetras and other blackwater fishes. By far more important than imitating the chemical water conditions found in the wild is partial water change on a regular basis in the home aquarium. The fish simply need clean water with as few pollution and bacteria as possible.

 

For our customers: the animals have code 422213 on our stock list. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.

 

Lexicon: Kryptopterus: ancient Greek, means "with hidden fin". bicirrhis: Latin, means "with two filaments". minor: Latin, means "small". vitreolus: Latin, means "small glass". Order today.

 

Suggestion of a common name: Golden back ghost catfish

 

Text & photos: Frank Schäfer