- There are 1,600 different minnow species in North America alone. These fish belong to the order Ostariophysi and to the family Cyprinidae. Minnows are related to catfish, carp, eels and goldfish. While they feed on very small animals and plants found in the water, they are the food of larger fish.
- Two of the largest North American minnows are the fallfish, which grows to be 1 foot long, and the Colorado squawfish, which can reach a length of 5 feet. The largest minnow of all is an Asian minnow, the Indian mahseer. This fish gets as large as 9 feet.
- There are five characteristics that must be true for a fish to be labeled as a minnow. Minnows can have no teeth on their jaws (only in their throats). They can have no scales on their heads. They must have a rear pelvic fin. None of their fins can have any spines, and there must be at least 10 fin rays on the dorsal fin.
- Minnows live in Asia, Europe, North America and Africa. They are found in extremely cold glacier-fed lakes in the mountains as well as in hot springs in the desert. They live in brooks, streams and rivers. Male minnows pile very small stones to build small nests in which the females lay eggs.
- In North America, the common shiner minnow, with the scientific name of Notropis cornutis, is found east of the Rockies from Canada in the north to the Gulf of Mexico in the south. The blunt nose minnow, Hyborhychus notatus, shares the territory. The desert minnow, Cypri nodon macularius, lives in hot springs at temperatures of up to more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit. These minnows reach an adult length of 2 inches and are found in the southwestern United States, Sonora Mexico and Baja California.
