Minnows Missouri Department of Conservation

By A Mystery Man Writer

Last updated 31 May 2024

Minnows Missouri Department of Conservation

Although the term “minnow” is sometimes used loosely to refer to any small fish, it is properly used only in referring to the members of the minnow family, the Cyprinidae. It is the largest of all fish families. Although many species are indeed small, some members of the minnow family grow to a considerable size. The Colorado pikeminnow, found in the western United States, can reach a length of 6 feet and weigh over 100 pounds. Here in Missouri, introduced carp species can reach 40 pounds or more. Among our native minnows, however, none exceed a length of 14 inches or a weight of 12 ounces. Native Missouri minnows share the following combination of characters. You can use these to separate them from our other small fishes: The fins lack spines. There are 8 principal rays in the dorsal fin (9 in the pugnose minnow), and 16 or fewer principal rays in the anal fin. The body is covered with smooth-edged (cycloid) scales. The head lacks scales. The jaws lack teeth. There is no small, fleshy fin (adipose fin) on the back behind the dorsal fin. Some nonnative, introduced members of the minnow family are also found in Missouri. Many of them have a crosshatched look to their scales. They differ from the above description by the following: Common carp and goldfish have 17 or more rays in the dorsal fin and a stout, saw-toothed spine at the front of the dorsal and anal fins. Bighead carp, silver carp, and rudd differ from all native minnows (except the golden shiner) in having a fleshy keel along the belly. Grass carp and black carp are distinguished by their larger adult size. Grass carp have prominent parallel grooves on the throat teeth. Black carp have large throat teeth that resemble human molars. Globally, about 1,200–1,500 species of minnows are known to be alive on earth today, and they occur on every continent except South America and Australia. The family is well represented in Missouri. Nearly one-third of all our native fishes are minnows. There are about 70 species of minnows recorded for Missouri. Some are widespread and occur in a variety of aquatic habitats, while others are restricted to certain stream systems — some of those are rare and endangered. Missouri’s native minnows are in the following genera: Campostoma (2 spp. of stonerollers) Chrosomus (1 sp., the southern redbelly dace) Cyprinella (6 spp. of shiners) Erimystax (2 spp. of chubs) Hybognathus (5 spp. of minnows) Hybopsis (2 spp., formerly Notropis) Luxilus (5 spp. of shiners) Lythrurus (2 spp. of shiners) Macrhybopsis (4 spp. of chubs) Nocomis (2 spp. of chubs) Notemigonus (1 sp., the golden shiner) Notropis (22 spp. of shiners and minnows) Opsopoeodus (1 sp., the pugnose minnow) Phenacobius (1 sp., the suckermouth minnow) Pimephales (4 spp. of minnows) Platygobio (1 sp., the flathead chub) Semotilus (1 sp., the creek chub) Nonnative members of the minnow family that may be found in Missouri: Carassius (1 sp., the goldfish) Ctenopharyngodon (1 sp., the grass carp) Cyprinus (1 sp., the common carp) Hypophthalmichthys (2 spp., the silver and bighead carps) Mylopharyngodon (1 sp., the black carp) Scardinius (1 sp., the European rudd) Similar species: Our native minnows are most likely to be confused with the killifishes (topminnows and studfishes), the western mosquitofish, the silversides, and the young of suckers.