Belonging to the family Melanotaeniidae, in the subfamily Melanotaeniinae, the Australian rainbowfishes.

[1] It is threatened in its native range, but easily bred in captivity and common in the aquarium trade.

[4] Glossolepis incisus is an omnivore and in captivity it will eat most common commercial aquarium foods readily.

[1] This is because of the rapidly increasing human population around this fish's only natural habitat and introduced species such as tilapia.

[4] This species is endemic to Lake Sentani and its tributaries near Jayapura in Papua, Indonesia[1][4] (a range it shares with the related Chilatherina sentaniensis).