Glossolepis is a genus of rainbowfish in the family Melanotaeniidae, native to New Guinea's lowland and highland waters across Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, including several species restricted to single tectonic lakes such as Lake Sentani and Lake Wanam. The atlas covers 9 species, from about 2 in to 4.5 in, and the genus is generally deeper-bodied and more heavily scaled than many other rainbowfish genera, with males typically intensifying in color as they mature.
Glossolepis incisa, the red rainbowfish, is a well-established aquarium favorite: males deepen from silver-orange into a rich, solid red with age, and the species is an easy, peaceful schooling fish for planted community tanks. Several rarer lake-endemic relatives, including G. wanamensis (Lake Wanam rainbowfish) and G. maculosa (spotted rainbowfish), reach specialist rainbowfish keepers on a smaller scale. Conservation status here is among the most severe of any rainbowfish genus in the atlas: two species are Critically Endangered, two Endangered, and two Vulnerable, against only three Least Concern, a pattern typical of species confined to single, small, increasingly pressured lake systems. Eight of the nine species already carry a CARES-program listing, underlining how much of the genus's near-term survival now rests on aquarium-maintained populations.