fathead minnow
Pimephales promelas Rafinesque, 1820
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
Fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas), also known as fathead or tuffy, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, the shiners, daces and minnows. The natural geographic range extends throughout much of North America, from central Canada south along the Rockies to Texas, and east to Virginia and the Northeastern United States. This minnow has also been introduced to many other areas via bait bucket releases. Its golden, or xanthic, strain, known as the rosy-red minnow, is a very common feeder fish sold in the United States and Canada. This fish is also known for producing Schreckstoff (a distress signal).
Wikipedia contributors, Fathead minnow; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:10:26.044553+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Pimephales promelas Rafinesque, 1820
- Name authority
- Rafinesque, 1820
- Common name
- fathead minnow
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Cypriniformes
- Family
- Cyprinidae
- Genus
- Pimephales
- 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
- genusPimephales Rafinesque, 1820
- speciesPimephales promelas Rafinesque, 1820
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Pimephales. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| bluntnose minnowPimephales notatus (Rafinesque, 1820) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Bullhead MinnowPimephales vigilax (Baird & Girard, 1853) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Hyborhynchus confertus Girard, 1856 Girard, 1856 | synonym |
| Hyborhynchus nigellus Cope, 1875 Cope, 1875 | synonym |
| Hyborhynchus puniceus Girard, 1856 Girard, 1856 | synonym |
| Pimephales anuli Kendall, 1903 Kendall, 1903 | synonym |
| Pimephales maculosus Girard, 1856 Girard, 1856 | synonym |
| Pimephales milesii Cope, 1865 Cope, 1865 | synonym |
| Pimephalus promelas Rafinesque, 1820 Rafinesque, 1820 | synonym |
| Pimephales promelas promelas Rafinesque, 1820 Rafinesque, 1820 | synonym |
| Colistus parietalis Cope, 1871 Cope, 1871 | synonym |
| Pimephales agassizii Cope, 1867 Cope, 1867 | synonym |
| Pimephales fasciatus Girard, 1856 Girard, 1856 | synonym |
| Plargyrus melanocephalus Abbott, 1860 Abbott, 1860 | synonym |
| Pimephales promelas harveyensis Hubbs & Lagler, 1949 Hubbs & Lagler, 1949 | synonym |
| Cliola smithii Evermann & Cox, 1896 Evermann & Cox, 1896 | synonym |
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.
- Rafinesque, C. S. (1820). Fishes of the Ohio River. [Ichthyologia Ohiensis, Part 6]. Western Review and Miscellaneous Magazine: A Monthly Publ., Devoted to Literature and Science, Lexington, KY, v. 2 (no. 5): 299–307. 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:4HWST. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.