Cyprinidae: Labeo Erythrurus

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Labeo Erythrurus

Most of the fishes we will cover here are members of the largest family of fishes, the minnows, Cyprinidae. With some 210 defined genera and 2,010 species you might imagine this super-group is further sub-divided, and though many cyprinids are of interest to us (rasboras, barbs, danios, freshwater "sharks", bitterlings) well leave it to you to delve into their taxonomy.

For perspective, and to introduce the "Chinese" algae eater (in a separate family, Gyrinocheilidae), the minnows share the Order Cypriniiformes with them and such other notable families as the freshwater suckers (Catostomidae), the loach family (Cobitidae, of some 18 genera and 110 species!), and the river loaches, Balitoridae (formerly Homalopteridae), a weird group of sucker- and loach-like fishes from Eurasia that have yet to be exploited as aquarium specimens