Older aquarium books often refer to this species by the junior synonym Pristella riddlei. Aquarists tend to refer to this fish as the golden pristella tetra, though some call it the X-ray tetra, instead.
In the context of aquarium literature, this species has been referred to as Pristella riddlei in older books, while aquarists typically use the common name golden pristella tetra or X-ray tetra.