Thursday 4 December 2014

A new species of Glassperch from West Kalimantan, Borneo.


Glassperch, Gymnochanda, are small Perciforme Fish (seldom more than 30 mm) found in still pools close to swamp forest and riverine ecosystems on Borneo, Sumatra, Peninsula Malaysia and Belitung Island. They are scaleless and transparent and show high levels of sexual dimorphism, with the females tending to be inconspicuous but the males having elongated fin rays and bright fin colouration.

In a paper published in the Raffles Bulletin of Zoology on TanHeok Hui and Kelvin Lim Kok Peng of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum and the Faculty of Science at the National University of Singapore describe a new species of Glassperch from West Kalimantan State (Indonesia) on Borneo.

The new species is named Gymnochanda ploegi, in honour of the late Alex Ploeg, former Secretary General of the Ornamental Fish International, who perished on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, which was shot down over Ukraine on 17 July 2014, for his work as a taxonomist and conservationist, particularly in the field of alien aquatic species, and his services to the ornamental fish trade. The species is described from 32 specimens gathered by local collectors for the ornamental fish trade, apparently the first time this fish has been collected.

Gymnochanda ploegi, male specimen in lateral view. Tan & Lim (2014).

The specimens range from 23.9 to 27.5 mm in length. The males have red and black pigmentation on their heads, particularly around the lips and snout, and similar colouration on the fins and in dark bars on the bodies. The females have similar colouration but with less black.

Gymnochanda ploegi, female specimen in lateral view. Tan & Lim (2014).

The specimens were collected from still pools in the Sanggau and Kapuas Lakes regions in West Kalimantan. The area from which they were collected was apparently remote, and took several hours trek to reach.

See also…

Gobies are small, benthic (bottom dwelling) members of the Perch Order, found in marine and freshwater environments around the world, but most numerous and diverse in the Indo-Pacific region. There are...

Cavefish (Amblyopsidae) are a group of predominantly cave-dwelling Perciform Fish from North America. Of the eight currently described species three are found at the surface, predominantly around springs...


The Cichlid Fish genus Chalinochromis is endemic to Lake Tanganyika in East Africa. To date two species have been formally described, Chalinochromis...


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