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minnow

Did you mean: minnow (fish), Minnow (in poker), Minnows (1971 Album by Marc Benno)

 
Dictionary: min·now   (mĭn'ō) pronunciation
 
n., pl. minnow or -nows.
  1. Any of a large group of small freshwater fishes of the family Cyprinidae, widely used as live bait.
  2. Any of various other small, often silver-colored fishes.

[Middle English meneu.]


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Small fishes, especially of the carp family (Cyprinidae), as well as some rockfish (family Umbridae) and killifishes (family Cyprinodontidae). The numerous species of North American cyprinid minnows are freshwater fishes, 2.4 – 12 in. (6 – 30 cm) long. Many are valuable as food for fishes, birds, and other animals and as live bait. The bluntnose (Pimephales notatus) and fathead (P. promelas) minnows, the common shiner, and the American roach are good bait species. The term also refers to the young of many large fish species. The minnow of Europe and northern Asia (Phoxinus phoxinus) is about 3 in. (7.5 cm) long and varies from golden to green.

For more information on minnow, visit Britannica.com.

 
minnow, common name for the Cyprinidae, a large family of freshwater fish which includes the carp (Cyprinus carpio), and of which there are some 300 American species. The European minnow is Phoxinus phoxinus. Minnows have soft-rayed fins and teeth in the throat only. Together with the closely allied sucker and catfish families they form the “hearing-aid” group of freshwater fishes, so-called for the complex set of bones extending from the airfloat to the inner ear, which gives them a superior sense of hearing and accounts for their characteristic wariness. The carp is generally considered the largest of the minnow family, although the squawfishes of the Columbia and Colorado rivers average 30 lb (13.5 kg) and the mahseer, a game fish of India, is also large. However, most minnows are small. They have great importance in the cycle of freshwater aquatic life, since they consume aquatic insects, larvae, and crustaceans and in turn serve as food for many larger fish. Most species are dully colored, though a few are brilliantly hued in greens, reds, and yellows. Various members of the family are called shiners, chubs, daces, roaches, breams, and bleaks. The Sacramento chub of California rivers, the creek chub, and the golden shiner, a greenish fish that turns golden during the breeding season, attain a length of 12 in. (2.5 cm). The red-sided and red-bellied daces are also named for the seasonal color changes in the male. The goldfish, genus Carassius, is also a member of the minnow family. Certain varieties of killifish of the family Cyprinodontidae are called topminnows and toothed minnows. The carnivorous mudminnows of the family Umbridae, found in the sluggish waters in the Great Lakes region and the Atlantic coastal lowlands, superficially resemble toothed minnows but are more closely related to the pike; they are also called dogfishes. Minnows are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Osteichthyes, order Cypriniformes, family Cyprinidae.


 
Wikipedia: Minnow
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Contents

Minnow may refer to:

Fish

"True" minnows

  • Minnow, many of the smaller fish in the subfamily Leuciscinae:
    • Bluntnose minnow, fish in the genus Pimephales
    • Cheat Minnow (Pararhinichthys bowersi)
    • Cutlips minnow, fish in the genus Exoglossum
    • Desert minnows, fish in the genus Dionda
    • Eurasian minnow, fish in the genus Phoxinus
    • Loach Minnow (Rhinichthys cobitis)
    • Pikeminnow, fish in the genus Ptychocheilus
    • Pugnose minnow, fish in the genus Opsopoeodus
    • Silverjaw minnow, fish in the genus Ericymba
    • Silvery minnow, fish in the genus Hybognathus
    • Suckermouth minnow, fish in the genus Phenacobius

Other minnows

  • Minnow, in Southeast Asia, the danionins
  • Minnow, in the Southern Hemisphere, some fish in the family Galaxiidae, in particular those of genus Galaxias
  • Minnow, a general term for tiny freshwater and saltwater fish, especially those used as fishing bait

Other uses

  • SS Minnow, the wrecked boat featured in the television series Gilligan's Island
  • Minnow, a metaphoric term used (particularly in sports) for an underdog

 
Translations: Minnow
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - [zool.] elritse

Nederlands (Dutch)
visje, grondelvoorn

Français (French)
n. - vairon, (fig) menu fretin

Deutsch (German)
n. - (Zool.) Elritze

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ιχθυολ.) κυπρίνος

Italiano (Italian)
pesciolino d'acqua dolce

Português (Portuguese)
n. - carpa miúda (f) (Ictiol.)

Русский (Russian)
пескарь, мелкая рыбешка

Español (Spanish)
n. - pececillo

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - kvidd, mört

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
鲤科小鱼

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 鯉科小魚

한국어 (Korean)
n. - (어류의 일종) 연준치모, 작은 물고기

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ヒメハヤ, 小魚

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) فرخ سمكه بحريه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮דג במים מתוקים ממשפחת הקרפיונים‬


 
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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
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