Danionella translucida Roberts, 1986

Open encyclopedia reference

Danionella translucida is an extremely small (1.1 cm long) species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Danionidae. This fish is endemic to Myanmar. When described, it was considered to be one of the smallest fish. It was collected from the roots of floating aquatic plants in a slow-flowing, shallow stream (maximum depth 1 m) in the Pegu Division of Myanmar. It was found alongside Danio, Microrasbora, Erethistes, and Oryzias species. Observed in life, D. translucida is almost perfectly transparent except for its eyes. It has a distinctive pattern of melanophores. There are no melanophores on the dorsal surface except on the head over the posterior part of the brain. On the posterior half of the body, there a few melanophores following the horizontal midline. The sides and underside of the abdomen have melanophores. A double row of melanophores is present on the underside of the fish from the isthmus of the gills to the pelvic fins. Eggs in D.

Wikipedia contributors, Danionella translucida; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:29:31.990766+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Danionella translucida Roberts, 1986

Name authority

Roberts, 1986

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Teleostei

Order

Cypriniformes

Family

Cyprinidae

Genus

Danionella

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. gigaclassActinopterygii
8. superclassActinopteri
9. classTeleostei
10. orderCypriniformes
11. familyCyprinidae Rafinesque, 1815
12. subfamilyDanioninae Bleeker, 1863
13. genusDanionella Roberts, 1986
14. speciesDanionella translucida Roberts, 1986

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Danionella. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 2,547 records assigned to Cyprinidae.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. Roberts, T. R. (1986). Danionella translucida, a new genus and species of cyprinid fish from Burma, one of the smallest living vertebrates. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 16 (4): 231–241. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00842977 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:34448. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.