About Carps and Minnows
The largest order of freshwater fishes, including carps, minnows, loaches and relatives.
Cypriniformes is the largest order of freshwater fishes, with well over 4,000 species in families such as Cyprinidae (carps and minnows), Catostomidae (suckers), and Cobitidae (loaches).
Morphology. They are soft-rayed fishes lacking true teeth on the jaws; many have pharyngeal teeth on the last gill arch used to crush food. The Cyprinidae typically have toothed, protrusible mouths and often a pair of barbels. A Weberian apparatus (modified vertebral processes) links the swim bladder to the inner ear, granting acute hearing.
Habitat & distribution. Almost exclusively freshwater — rivers, lakes, floodplains, and rice paddies across North America, Eurasia, and Africa; notably absent from South America and Australia natively.
Ecology & human use. Mostly omnivorous bottom- or mid-water feeders. The order includes the common carp (a foundational aquaculture species worldwide), goldfish and koi (ornamental), and innumerable bait and aquarium fishes.
