mud loach

Open encyclopedia reference

The weatherfish (Misgurnus fossilis) is a species of true loach that has a wide range in Europe and some parts of Asia. It is an omnivorous scavenger bottom feeder, using its sensitive barbels to find edible items. The diet mostly consists of small aquatic invertebrates along with some detritus. The weatherfish is long and thin which allows it to burrow through the substrate and navigate through places that deeper bodied fish would have trouble with. It grows up to 30 cm (12 in) in total length, though there are fishermen who say they have caught longer, up to 45 cm (17.7 in). If true, this would make Misgurnus fossilis the largest species of true loach. This loach has a very wide range, especially in Europe. It occurs north of the Alps, from the Meuse River in western Europe all the way to the Neva River in northwestern Russia.

Wikipedia contributors, Misgurnus fossilis; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:47:17.897074+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Misgurnus fossilis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Name authority

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Common name

mud loach

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Teleostei

Order

Cypriniformes

Family

Cobitidae

Genus

Misgurnus

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. gigaclassActinopterygii
8. superclassActinopteri
9. classTeleostei
10. orderCypriniformes
11. familyCobitidae Swainson, 1838
12. subfamilyCobitinae Swainson, 1838
13. genusMisgurnus Lacepède, 1803
14. speciesMisgurnus fossilis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Misgurnus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 168 records assigned to Cobitidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii. Holmiae [Stockholm]. [iii] + 824 pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.542 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:43NKC. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.