AskDefine | Define cyprinid

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Dictionary Definition

cyprinid adj : of or relating to members of fish family Cyprinidae [syn: cyprinoid] n : soft-finned mainly freshwater fishes typically having toothless jaws and cycloid scales [syn: cyprinid fish]

User Contributed Dictionary

English

Adjective

  1. Of, pertaining to or characteristic of the Cyprinidae family of fish

Noun

  1. Any fish of this family

Extensive Definition

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.

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 the Colorado pikeminnow (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. 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.
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. 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.
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. 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.

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.

References

External links

cyprinid in Arabic: عائلة الشبوطيات
cyprinid in Catalan: Ciprínid
cyprinid in German: Karpfenfische
cyprinid in Spanish: Cyprinidae
cyprinid in French: Cyprinidae
cyprinid in Korean: 잉어과
cyprinid in Icelandic: Vatnakarpar
cyprinid in Italian: Cyprinidae
cyprinid in Georgian: კობრისებრნი
cyprinid in Lithuanian: Karpinės
cyprinid in Hungarian: Pontyfélék
cyprinid in Dutch: Eigenlijke karpers
cyprinid in Japanese: コイ科
cyprinid in Norwegian: Karpefamilien
cyprinid in Norwegian Nynorsk: Karpefamilien
cyprinid in Polish: Karpiowate
cyprinid in Portuguese: Cyprinidae
cyprinid in Russian: Карповые
cyprinid in Slovenian: Pravi krapovci
cyprinid in Serbian: Шарани
cyprinid in Finnish: Särkikalat
cyprinid in Swedish: Karpfiskar
cyprinid in Thai: วงศ์ปลาตะเพียน
cyprinid in Vietnamese: Họ Cá chép
cyprinid in Turkish: Sazangiller
cyprinid in Chinese: 鲤科
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