Kryptopterus bicirrhis (Valenciennes, 1840)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Kryptopterus bicirrhis, often called the glass catfish, is an Asian glass catfish species of the genus Kryptopterus. Until 1989, the concept of K. bicirrhis included its smaller relative Kryptopterus vitreolus ("ghost catfish"; often confused with K. minor). Its scientific name K. bicirrhis and common name glass catfish are often still used in the aquarium fish trade to refer to the actual K. vitreolus; as it seems, the larger and more aggressive true K. bicirrhis was only ever exported in insignificant numbers.
In western Borneo, where K. minor and K. bicirrhis are sympatric, both species are known as lais tipis in the Malay language, but when locals want to distinguish the two, they refer to K. minor as lais limpok. In Cambodia it is known as trey kes prak (Khmer: ត្រីកេះប្រាក់) and used to make the fermented fish paste prahok.
Wikipedia contributors, Kryptopterus bicirrhis; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:56:45.541693+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Kryptopterus bicirrhis (Valenciennes, 1840)
- Name authority
- (Valenciennes, 1840)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Siluriformes
- Family
- Siluridae
- Genus
- Kryptopterus
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderSiluriformes
- familySiluridae Rafinesque, 1815
- genusKryptopterus Bleeker, 1857
- speciesKryptopterus bicirrhis (Valenciennes, 1840)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Kryptopterus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Kryptopterus baramensis Ng, 2002 | SiluridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Kryptopterus geminus Ng, 2003 | SiluridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Kryptopterus hesperius Ng, 2002 | SiluridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Kryptopterus lais (Bleeker, 1851) | SiluridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Kryptopterus limpok (Bleeker, 1852) | SiluridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Kryptopterus minor Roberts, 1989 | SiluridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Kryptopterus mononema (Bleeker, 1846) | SiluridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Kryptopterus palembangensis (Bleeker, 1852) | SiluridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Kryptopterus paraschilbeides Ng, 2003 | SiluridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Kryptopterus vitreolus Ng & Kottelat, 2013 | SiluridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Kryptopterus schilbeides (Bleeker, 1858) | SiluridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Kryptopterus cheveyi Durand, 1940 | SiluridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Cryptopterus bicirris (Valenciennes, 1840) (Valenciennes, 1840) | synonym |
| Cryptopterus bicirrhis (Valenciennes, 1840) (Valenciennes, 1840) | synonym |
| Kryptopterus bicirrus (Valenciennes, 1840) (Valenciennes, 1840) | synonym |
| Silurus bicirrhis Valenciennes, 1840 Valenciennes, 1840 | synonym |
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.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1022390 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:3RF2T. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.