minnow
Phoxinus phoxinus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Picture of common minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus)
Adrien Pinot · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 320 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Phoxinus phoxinus (known colloquially as the Eurasian minnow, minnow, Channel minnow, or common minnow) is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, which includes the daces, minnows and related fishes. It is the type species of genus Phoxinus. This taxon was formerly considered to be the only species in the genus Phoxinus found in Europe and to have a wide geographic range in Eurasia, however, it is now regarded as part of a species complex with new species being described across its former range and this species being restricted to Western Europe. It occurs predominantly in cool (12–20 °C (54–68 °F)) streams and well-oxygenated lakes and ponds. It is noted for being a gregarious species, shoaling in large numbers.
Wikipedia contributors, Phoxinus phoxinus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:24:13.821666+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Phoxinus phoxinus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- minnow
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Cypriniformes
- Family
- Cyprinidae
- Genus
- Phoxinus
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderCypriniformes
- familyCyprinidae Rafinesque, 1815
- subfamilyLeuciscinae Bonaparte, 1835
- genusPhoxinus Rafinesque, 1820
- speciesPhoxinus phoxinus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Phoxinus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Phoxinus grumi Berg, 1907 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Phoxinus keumkang (Chyung, 1977) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Phoxinus likai Bianco & De Bonis, 2015 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Phoxinus septimaniae Kottelat, 2007 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Phoxinus strandjae Drensky, 1926 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Phoxinus tchangi Chen, 1988 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Phoxinus dragarum Denys, Dettaï, Persat, Daszkiewicz, Hautecoeur & Keith, 2020 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Phoxinus fayollarum Denys, Dettaï, Persat, Daszkiewicz, Hautecoeur & Keith, 2020 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Phoxinus apollonicus Bianco & De Bonis, 2015 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Phoxinus bigerri Kottelat, 2007 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Phoxinus brachyurus Berg, 1912 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Phoxinus colchicus Berg, 1910 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
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.
- 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:4GTGC. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.