Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Ovalentaria/misc (Various families in series Ovalentaria) > Ambassidae (Asiatic glassfishes)
Etymology: Ambassis: Derived from Greek, anabasis = climbing up (Ref. 45335).
More on authors: Gilchrist & Thompson.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal. Subtropical; 13°N - 39°S, 19°E - 52°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Indian Ocean: East coast from KwaZulu-Natal south to Algoa Bay in South Africa (Ref. 4318, 7248, 52193). Reported from east Africa (Ref. 4318), including Madagascar (Ref. 4180, 50956) and Mauritius (Ref. 50956).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m 3.5 range ? - ? cm
Max length : 10.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 52193)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 8; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9 - 11; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 9 - 11. Diagnosis: Ambassis natalensis has following combination of characters: supraorbital spines 1-4; rostral spine absent; rear margin of preopercle entirely serrate; preopercle ridge smooth except for 1-5 tiny spines at rear corner; interopercle smooth or with 1-4 tiny serrae at angle; two rows of cheek scales; predorsal scales 9-11; lateral line continuous; lower gill rakers 19-22; pectoral-fin rays 14-15; teeth on vomer and palatines in 2-3 rows (Ref. 50956).

Tolerant of freshwater within a temperature range of 19-27°C (Ref. 4180, 52193, 79840). In summer, it feeds mainly in early evening and late morning while in winter, it feeds both day and night on crustaceans as well as insects (aquatic and terrestrial) and fish (Ref. 7248, 52193). Excellent subject for biological research as it easily thrives in captivity (Ref. 12484).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Maugé, L.A., 1986. Ambassidae. p. 297-298. In J. Daget, J.-P. Gosse and D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde (eds.) Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa (CLOFFA). ISNB, Brussels; MRAC, Tervuren; and ORSTOM, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 4180)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 12 February 2017

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest; aquarium: commercial; bait: usually

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 23.9 - 27.6, mean 26.7 °C (based on 82 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01413 (0.00731 - 0.02730), b=3.02 (2.85 - 3.19), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.4 ±0.59 se; based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Assuming Fec > 10,000).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).

Ambassis natalensis Gilchrist & Thompson, 1908