Carps and minnows
Rohu, catla, mrigal, mahseer, koi, goldfish and barbs. 59 fish on EveryFish so far.
Carps and minnows belong to the order Cypriniformes, which with more than 4,000 species is the largest group of freshwater fish. They have no teeth in their jaws, grinding food with throat teeth instead, and many have barbels and a link between the swim bladder and the ear that gives them keen hearing. The group runs from tiny danios and rasboras to the mahseer and the big carps of Asian rivers.
The world's most farmed fish
Carps are the backbone of fish farming. Grass carp, silver carp, common carp and bighead carp are among the most farmed fish on Earth by weight, mainly in China. In India and Bangladesh the Indian major carps, catla, rohu and mrigal, are raised together in ponds in composite fish culture, with each species feeding at a different depth. Carps are central to Bengali, Odia and Assamese cooking, where rohu is the everyday fish and a fish of ceremony.
Goldfish, koi and mahseer
Goldfish were bred in China from a wild carp more than a thousand years ago, and koi were bred from the common carp in Japan from the 19th century. The zebrafish, a small danio of South Asian rivers, is one of the most studied animals in biology. In the wild, the mahseers of the Himalaya and the Western Ghats are prized by anglers and revered at temple pools, but several are endangered by dams, pollution and overfishing. The common carp, in turn, is invasive in Australia and North America.
Famous carp fish
Still to be written: Catla, Cirrhinus mrigala, Common carp, Grass carp.
Further reading
EuropeCommon rudd
A red-finned freshwater fish native to Europe and Asia.Carp · Rivers and lakes
🇲🇾 Malaysia and 1 moreHarlequin rasbora
A small, colourful freshwater fish popular in home aquariums for its distinctive black body marking.Carp · Rivers and lakes
🇲🇲 MyanmarOdessa barb
Small colourful cyprinid from Myanmar popular in home aquariumsCarp · Rivers and lakes · 2008
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreZebrafish
Small striped fish from South Asia kept in aquariums and labsCarp · Rivers and lakes
🇹🇭 Thailand and 2 moreSiamese mud carp
Freshwater cyprinid native to Mekong and Chao Phraya riversCarp · Rivers and lakes
WorldRasbora
A diverse genus of small freshwater fish native to South and Southeast Asia.Carp · Rivers and lakes · 1822
🇨🇳 ChinaTelescope goldfish
Fancy goldfish breed with large protruding eyesCarp · Rivers and lakes
WorldBarb
A common name for various ray-finned cyprinid fish, especially in the genera Barbus and Puntius.Carp · Rivers and lakes
Southeast AsiaSiamese algae-eater
A bottom-dwelling freshwater fish from Southeast Asia known for eating red algae in aquariums.Carp · Rivers and lakes
Southeast AsiaRainbow shark
A Southeast Asian freshwater cyprinid kept as a popular but aggressive aquarium fish.Carp · Rivers and lakes
🇹🇭 ThailandRed-tailed black shark
A critically endangered Thai carp kept widely in aquariums for its black body and red tail.Carp · Rivers and lakes · 1931
Southeast AsiaClown barb
A spotted freshwater fish from Borneo and Sumatra.Carp · Rivers and lakes
🇹🇭 Thailand and 1 moreBala shark
A large, silver cyprinid often kept in aquariums despite its size.Carp · Rivers and lakes
🇨🇳 ChinaWhite Cloud Mountain minnow
A small, hardy freshwater fish native to China, popular in aquariums for its cold tolerance and peaceful nature.Carp · Rivers and lakes · 1930
🇲🇲 Myanmar and 1 moreCelestial pearl danio
A tiny, brightly coloured freshwater fish from Myanmar and Thailand, popular in the aquarium trade.Carp · Rivers and lakes · 2006
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreFathead minnow
Small North American freshwater fish used as bait and in toxicity studies.Carp · Rivers and lakes
🇹🇭 Thailand and 4 moreTinfoil barb
A large Southeast Asian freshwater fish known for its red fins and silvery body.Carp · Rivers and lakes · 1853
🇹🇭 Thailand and 4 moreJava barb
A silvery freshwater fish farmed across Southeast Asia.Carp · Rivers and lakes
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 1 moreTiger barb
Active striped freshwater fish popular in home aquariums.Carp · Rivers and lakes
🇯🇵 JapanKoi
Ornamental carp varieties bred in Japan for decorative ponds.Carp · Rivers and lakes
🇨🇳 ChinaGoldfish
A domesticated freshwater carp from China, kept worldwide as a pet and aquarium fish.Carp · Rivers and lakes
WorldTench
Slippery freshwater fish with olive-green skin and red eyes.Carp · Rivers and lakes · 1758
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Rohu: Wiki Farazi, CC0, source
- Common rudd: George Chernilevsky, Public domain, source
- Harlequin rasbora: Mattia Nocciola, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Odessa barb: Waitingonthetide, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Zebrafish: Roundish, CC0, source
- Siamese mud carp: BigYoi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Golden mahseer: Khalid Mahmood, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Rasbora: Captain R C Beavan, Public domain, source
- Telescope goldfish: Lawrencekhoo, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Barb: Andrew69., CC BY 3.0, source
- Siamese algae-eater: Published by Zoologische Mededelingen, at http://www.zoologischemedede, CC BY 3.0, source
- Rainbow shark: MerlinSenger at German Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Red-tailed black shark: Astellar87, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Clown barb: Haplochromis, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bala shark: H. Zell, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- White Cloud Mountain minnow: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Celestial pearl danio: Cisamarc, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Fathead minnow: Rankin1958, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tinfoil barb: Wibowo Djatmiko ( Wie146 ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Java barb: Yung-Lun Lin, CC BY 4.0, source
- Tiger barb: Photo by Derek Ramsey ( Ram-Man ), CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Koi: Asturio Cantabrio, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Goldfish: No machine-readable author provided. Heptagon assumed (based on copyri, Public domain, source
- Tench: Karelj, Public domain, source