Phoxinus phoxinus, Eurasian minnow : fisheries, aquarium, bait

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Phoxinus phoxinus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Eurasian minnow
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Phoxinus phoxinus
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Cypriniformes (Carps) > Leuciscidae (Minnows) > Phoxininae
Etymology: Phoxinus: Greek, phoxinos = certain river fish (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Linnaeus.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; brackish; demersal; pH range: 7.0 - 7.5; dH range: 10 - 20; potamodromous (Ref. 51243). Temperate; 2°C - 20°C (Ref. 1672); 73°N - 37°N, 10°W - 179°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eurasia: basins of Atlantic, North and Baltic Seas, Arctic and northern Pacific Ocean, from Garonne (France) eastward to Anadyr and Amur drainages and Korea; Ireland (possibly introduced), Great Britain northward to 58°N. Scandinavia and Russia northernmost extremity, Rhône drainage. Recorded from upper and middle Volga and Ural drainages, Lake Balkhash (Kazakhstan) and upper Syr-Darya drainage (Aral basin), but else identifications need verification. At least one country reports adverse ecological impact after introduction. Several species are confused under Phoxinus phoxinus.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 5.2, range 5 - 5.8 cm
Max length : 14.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 556); common length : 7.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 556); max. reported age: 11 years (Ref. 59043)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 3; Dorsal soft rays (total): 6-8; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 6 - 8; Vertebrae: 38 - 40. Diagnosed from its congeners in Europe by having lateral line usually reaching beyond anal fin base, a midlateral row of vertically elongated blotches whose depth is about 1/3-1/2 of body depth at same position, often fused in a midlateral stripe (in preserved individuals), caudal peduncle depth 2.6-3.1 times in its length, patches of breast scales separated by unscaled area or (rarely) connected anteriorly by 1-2 rows of scales, snout length 29-34% HL ( 1.1-1.4 times eye diameter), and anal fin origin in front of base of last dorsal ray (Ref. 59043). Caudal fin with 19 rays (Ref. 2196).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Gregarious (Ref. 2196). Found in a wide range of cold and well oxygenated habitats from small, fast-flowing streams to large Nordic lowland rivers and from small upland lakes to large oligotrophic lakes. Usually occurs in association with salmonid fishes (Ref. 59043). Feeds on algae, plant debris (in rivers), mollusks, crustaceans and insects (Ref. 30578). Spawns over clean gravel areas in flowing water or on wave-washed shores of lakes. Overwinters in coarse substrate or in deep pools with low current (Ref. 59043). Migrates upstream for spawning in shallow gravel areas. Important laboratory fish, for research on sensory organs of fishes. Mean maximum age is 6 years (Ref. 41616). Locally threatened due to pollution and excessive stocking of species of Salmo (Ref. 59043).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Males and females form school separately and arrive on the spawning site at differen times. Spawn over clean gravel areas in flowing water or on wave-washed shores of lakes. Deposit eggs in shallow water on sand or gravel bottom which hatch in 4-5 days at 18°C. Females lay sticky eggs deep into clean gravel (Ref. 59043).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Kottelat, M. and J. Freyhof, 2007. Handbook of European freshwater fishes. Publications Kottelat, Cornol and Freyhof, Berlin. 646 pp. (Ref. 59043)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 01 January 2008

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Potential pest (Ref. 13686)





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: commercial; bait: usually
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00891 (0.00631 - 0.01259), b=3.07 (2.97 - 3.17), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.2   ±0.4 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 4.0 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 2 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tm=1-6; tmax=13; fec=200).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (24 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.