Glassfish

Parapriacanthus ransonneti

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth10–72 m
Water temperature20–29 °C
Best monthsSeptember and October
How commonOccasional

About this species

Parapriacanthus is a genus of sweepers native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. Parapriacanthus are bioluminescent, with ventral light organs for counter-illumination. Parapriacanthus luciferase is a kleptoprotein, obtained from their diet on bioluminescent ostracods.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Parapriacanthus”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 7 records
February: 5 records
March: 5 records
April: 9 records
May: 15 records
June: 10 records
July: 5 records
August: 8 records
September: 26 records
October: 20 records
November: 11 records
December: 14 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 10–72 m · Deepest record: 300 m

0–10 m: 7 records
10–20 m: 19 records
20–30 m: 9 records
30–40 m: 9 records
40–50 m: 11 records
50–60 m: 17 records
60–70 m: 7 records
70–80 m: 3 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 4 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 3 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–29 °C

20–22 °C: 10 records
22–24 °C: 8 records
24–26 °C: 30 records
26–28 °C: 66 records
28–30 °C: 40 records

Names and classification

English: Glassfish, Golden Bullseye, Golden Sweeper, Pygmy Sweeper, Ransonnet's Bullseye, Rosy Sweep, Yellow Sweeper

Names in 4 more languages

German: Glasfisch, Indischer Glasfisch
French: Poisson de verre, Poisson hachette nain, Poisson-hachette nain
Japanese: Kimmemodoki, キンメモドキ
Simplified Chinese: 大面側仔, 紅海副單鰭魚, 雷氏充金眼鯛, 雷氏充金眼鯛（紅海副單鰭魚）

Other scientific names: Parapriacanthus beryciformis, Parapriacanthus ransonnari, Parapriacanthus unwini, Pempheris unwini

Similar species

Guenther's Sweeper
Parapriacanthus guentheri
Silver sweeper
Pempheris oualensis
swanky sweeper
Pempheris schwenkii
Vanikoro sweeper
Pempheris vanicolensis

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
768 open-data records from 1870 to 2022.

Log what you see on your next dive

The free DiveHive diver app keeps your logbook with every sighting and shows what lives at the site you dive next.

Join the waitlist