The family Cyprinidae, named after the Greek word Kypris, another name for Aphrodite, consists of the
carps and some of the fish known as minnows.[1]
Characteristics
The fish in this family originate from North America, Africa, and Eurasia. The largest fish in this family is the Giant Barb (Catlocarpio siamensis), which may grow up to 3 m
(10 ft). The largest North American species is Ptychocheilus lucius. On the other hand, many species are smaller than 5 cm (2 in); the smallest freshwater fish is, in fact, a cypriniform,
Danionella translucida, reaching 12 mm at the longest.[1] All fish in this family are egg-layers and the breeding habits of most
is one of non-guarding of the eggs, however, there are a few species that build nests and/or guard the eggs.
Economic significance
Cyprinids are highly important food fish; they are fished and farmed across Eurasia. In land-locked countries in particular,
cyprinids are often the major species of fish eaten, although the prevalence of inexpensive frozen fish products made this less important now than it was in earlier times. Nonetheless, in certain
places they remain popular for food as well as recreational fishing, and have been deliberately
stocked in ponds and lakes for centuries for this reason.[2]
Several cyprinids have been quite introduced to waters outside their natural range to provide food, sport, or biological
control for some pest species. The common carp and the grass
carp are the most important of these, for example in Florida.[3][4] In some cases, these have
become invasive species that compete with native fishes or disrupt the environment,
carp in particular can stir up the riverbed reducing the clarity of the water making it difficult for plants to grow.[5]
Numerous cyprinids have become important in the aquarium hobby, most famously the
goldfish, which was first imported into Europe around 1728 but was cultivated by the Chinese
well before then.[6] Other popular cyprinids kept in
aquarium include the barbs, danios and rasboras.
The zebra danio or zebrafish (Danio rerio) is the standard research animal for
studying developmental genetics.[7]
Taxonomy
It is the largest family of fresh-water fish, with about 2,420 species of cyprinids in about 220 genera. The family belongs to the order Cypriniformes.
Genera
The bold black text indicates which subfamily the listed genera belong to. There is debate as to how many subfamilies exist in
this family and to which subfamily certain genera belong to.
- Acheilognathinae (bitterling-like cyprinids)
- Barbinae
- Cultrinae
- Cyprininae
- Danioninae
- Gobioninae
- Abbottina
- Biwia
- Coreius
- Gnathopogon
- Gobio (gudgeons)
- Gobiobotia
- Hemibarbus
- Microphysogobio
- Pseudogobio
- Pseudorasbora
- Pungtungia
- Rhinogobio
- Romanogobio
- Sarcocheilichthys
- Saurogobio
- Squalidus
- Xenophysogobio
- Labeoninae
- Labeo
- Longanalus
- Osteochilus
- Leuciscinae
- Rasborinae
- Squaliobarbinae
- Tincinae
- Xenocyprinae
- Incertae sedis (Unclassified)
References
- ^ a b Nelson, Joseph S. (2006). Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons,
Inc. ISBN 0471250317
- ^ A. F. Magri MacMahon (1946). Fishlore, pp 149-152. Pelican
Books.
- ^ Florida's Exotic Freshwater Fishes. State of Florida (2006). Retrieved on 2007-03-05.
- ^ Florida's Exotic Freshwater Fishes. State of Florida (2006). Retrieved on 2007-03-05.
- ^ University of Southern Mississippi/College of
Marine Sciences/Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (2005-08-03). Fact Sheet for Cyprinus carpio (Linnaeus, 1758). Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission.
Retrieved on 2007-05-03.
- ^ Riehl R. & Baensch H (1996) Aquarium Atlas Volume 1 p. 410.
Voyageur Press, ISBN 3-88244-050-3
- ^ Helfman G., Collette B., & Facey D. (1997). The Diversity of
Fishes p. 228. Blackwell Publishing, ISBN 0-86542-256-7
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