Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family, including the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives the barbs and barbels, among others. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family, and the largest vertebrate animal family overall, with about 3,000 species; only 1,270 of these remain extant, divided into about 200 valid genera. Cyprinids range from about 12 mm (0.5 in) in size to the 3 m (9.8 ft) giant barb. By genus and species count, the family makes up more than two-thirds of the ostariophysian order Cypriniformes. The family name is derived from the Greek word kyprînos.
Cypriniformes is an order of ray-finned fish, which includes many families and genera of cyprinid fish, such as barbs, gobies, loaches, botias, and minnows. Cypriniformes is an “order-within-an-order”, placed under the superorder Ostariophysi—which is also made up of cyprinid, ostariophysin fishes. The order contains 11-12 families, over 400 genera, and more than 4,250 named species; new species are regularly described, and new genera are recognized frequently. Cyprinids are most diverse in South and Southeast Asia, but are entirely absent from Australia and South America. At 112 years old, the longest-lived cypriniform fish documented is the bigmouth buffalo.
Minnow is the common name for a number of species of small freshwater fish, belonging to several genera of the family Cyprinidae and in particular the subfamily Leuciscinae. They are also known in Ireland as pinkeens.
A dace is a small fish that can be one of many different species. The unmodified name is usually a reference to the common dace. This, like most fish called "daces", belongs to the family Cyprinidae, mostly in subfamily Leuciscinae.
Phoxinus is a genus of freshwater fish in the family Leuciscidae of order Cypriniformes, and the only members of the subfamily Phoxininae, or Eurasian minnows. The type species is Phoxinus phoxinus. The other species in this genus are also commonly known as minnows. The name "minnow" was what early English fisherman used to describe "small and insignificant". The genus Phoxinus is found throughout Eurasia, and includes 21 known species. Previously, members of the North American genus Chrosomus were also believed to form part of this genus.
Barbus is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. The type species of Barbus is the common barbel, first described as Cyprinus barbus and now named Barbus barbus. Barbus is the namesake genus of the subfamily Barbinae, but given their relationships, that taxon is better included in the Cyprininae at least for the largest part.
Puntius is a genus of small freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae native to South Asia and Mainland Southeast Asia, as well as Taiwan.
Ostariophysi is the second-largest superorder of fish. Members of this superorder are called ostariophysians. This diverse group contains 10,758 species, about 28% of known fish species in the world and 68% of freshwater species, and are present on all continents except Antarctica. They have a number of common characteristics such as an alarm substance and a Weberian apparatus. Members of this group include fish important to people for food, sport, the aquarium industry, and research.
Barbonymus is a ray-finned fish genus in the family Cyprinidae, containing some barb species. The genus was only established in 1999, with the tinfoil barb as type species; thus, these fish are sometimes collectively called tinfoils. The new genus was established in recognition of the fact that some large Asian "barbs", formerly rather indiscriminately lumped in Barbus, Barbodes and Puntius, form a distinct evolutionary lineage.
The bitterling-like cyprinids form the cyprinid subfamily Acheilognathinae. This subfamily contains seven genera, although the Khanka spiny bitterling is often placed in Acheilognathus, and at least 75 described species to date. Over half of the species are in the genus Acheilognathus.
Tincinae is a doubtful subfamily of freshwater ray-finned fish from the family Cyprinidae, it consists of the tench of Eurasia and the east Asian clod minnows.
Achondrostoma is a genus of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae, the carps and minnows. It is endemic to the Iberian Peninsula.
Leuciscinae is a subfamily of the freshwater fish family Cyprinidae, which contains the true minnows.
The danionins are a group of small, minnow-type fish belonging to the family Cyprinidae. Species of this group are in the genera clades Danio and Devario, based on the latest phylo-genetic research by Fang et al in 2009. They are primarily native to the fresh waters of South and Southeast Asia, with fewer species in Africa. Many species are brightly coloured and are available as aquarium fish worldwide. Fishes of the danio clade tend to have horizontal stripes, rows of spots, or vertical bars, and often have long barbels. Species within the devario clade tend to have vertical or horizontal bars, and short, rudimentary barbels, if present at all. All danionins are egg scatterers, and breed in the rainy season in the wild. They are carnivores, living on insects and small crustaceans.
Gobioninae is a monophyletic subfamily of Eurasian cyprinid fishes. A species-rich subfamily, it is divided into five tribes: Gobionini, Pseudogobionini, Hemibarbini, Coreiini, and Sarcocheilichthyini.
Laubuka latens is a species of small fish of the minnow and carp family, Cyprinidae, and the Danio subfamily. It was described in 2015 from specimens collected in the Cauvery River and its tributaries in the Western Ghats of India. This species and Laubuka trevori had been thought to be local variants of the Indian glass barb but were shown to be different species. The unique features of L. latens are that it has 7½ branched rays in its dorsal fin with 5 branched rays in its pelvic fin; it has 14 precaudal vertebrae and 17–18 predorsal scales; aw s well as 5+4+2 teeth on the fifth ceratobranchial bone. It can also be distinguished from its close relatives by its plain unmarked body, lacking stripes.
The burrhead chub is a freshwater ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae, the carps and minnows. It is endemic to the Colorado, Guadalupe, and San Antonio river drainages in Texas. Its preferred habitat is sand and gravel runs of small to large rivers.
Squaliobarbinae is a small subfamily of the carp and minnow family, Cyprinidae, which consists of three monotypic genera which have their natural distributions in eastern Asia. Two species, the grass carp and the black carp, have been introduced to other parts of the world for weed control and aquaculture. They are large cyprinids characterised by an enlarged subtemporal fossa, the palate articulating with the supraethmoid, an enlarged intercalar bone in the cranial vault, and a divided levator posterior muscle.
Xenocyprinae, is a contentious subfamily of the family Cyprinidae, the carp and minnow family, originally from eastern Asia.
Hypsibarbus oatesii is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish from the carp and minnow family, the Cyprinidae. It is found in the southern Shan Hills in Myanmar in the Salween River. It is caught for food in subsistence fisheries. The specific name honours Eugene William Oates who collected the type specimen.
