Ambassis is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Ambassidae, the Asiatic glassfishes. They are found widely in the Indo-Pacific region, with species in fresh, brackish and coastal marine waters.
This genus includes fish known commonly as glassies, perchlets, and common glassfishes.[1] The genus name was derived from the Greek anabasis, meaning ‘climbing up’.[2]
Species
There are currently 19 recognized species in this genus:[3]
- Ambassis ambassis (Lacépède, 1802) – Commerson’s glassy
- Ambassis bleekeri Maugé, 1984
- Ambassis buruensis Bleeker, 1856 – Buru glass perchlet
- Ambassis buton Popta, 1918 – Buton glassy perchlet
- Ambassis denticulata Klunzinger, 1870
- Ambassis dussumieri G. Cuvier, 1828 – Malabar glassy perchlet
- Ambassis fontoynonti Pellegrin, 1932 – dusky glass perch
- Ambassis interrupta Bleeker, 1853 – long-spined glass perchlet
- Ambassis kopsii Bleeker, 1858 – freckled hawkfish
- Ambassis macracanthus Bleeker, 1849 – estuarine glass perchlet
- Ambassis marianus Günther, 1880 – estuary perchlet
- Ambassis miops Günther, 1872 – flag-tailed glass perchlet
- Ambassis nalua (F. Hamilton, 1822) – scalloped perchlet
- Ambassis natalensis Gilchrist & W. W. Thompson, 1908 – slender glassy
- Ambassis octava Ghazali, Lavoué, Nor, Muhammad-Rasul & Tan, 2023
- Ambassis telkara Whitley, 1935
- Ambassis thermalis Cuvier, 1829
- Ambassis urotaenia Bleeker, 1852 – banded-tail glassy perchlet
- Ambassis vachellii J. Richardson, 1846 – Vachelli’s glass perchlet
- Synonyms
- Ambassis commersonii (Lacépède, 1802) valid as A. ambassis
- Ambassis gymnocephalus (Lacépède, 1802) valid as A. ambassis (bald glassy)
References
- ^ “Ambassis“. Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
- ^ Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. Ambassis agassizii. FishBase. 2014.
- ^ Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). “Species in the genus Ambassis“. Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 23 July 2025.