The Badidae or the chameleonfishes are a small family (containing about 30 species) or ray-finned fishes which has been placed in the order Anabantiformes. Despite their apparent affinity to other Anabantiforms, the 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies the family as being a sister to the Anabantiformes, along with the Nandidae and Pristolepididae in an unnamed and unranked but monophyletic clade which is a sister to the Ovalentaria within the wider Percomorpha.[1] Members of this family are small freshwater fish that are found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Thailand.[2] The largest is Badis assamensis that reaches a standard length of up to 7.5abbr=onNaNabbr=on,[3] while the smallest, Dario dario, does not exceed 2abbr=onNaNabbr=on.[4]