CreatureData

Minnow

Phoxinus phoxinus (Linnaeus, 1758)

LCLeast Concernbony fish

The minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus) is a bony fish in the family Cyprinidae and the subfamily Leuciscinae, within the order Cypriniformes. It is also called the common minnow or channel minnow, and its scientific name carries the authority (Linnaeus, 1758).

Minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus)
Photo: Adrien Pinot · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the minnow

The IUCN Red List assesses the minnow globally as Least Concern (LC), which is not a threatened category.

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
freshwater, riverinesrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Photos of the minnow

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus)
Totti · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus)
Berger, F · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus)
Etrusko25 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the minnow live?

Not recorded

What is the minnow?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

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.

From the Wikipedia article “Phoxinus phoxinus” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Phoxinus_phoxinus&oldid=1376298500), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the minnow endangered?

The minnow is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the minnow classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classTeleostei
  4. orderCypriniformes
  5. familyCyprinidae
  6. genusPhoxinus
  7. SpeciesPhoxinus phoxinus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Cyprinus aphya, Cyprinus chrysoprasius, Cyprinus galian, Cyprinus isetensis, Cyprinus lumaireul, Cyprinus morella, Cyprinus phoxinus, Cyprinus rivularis, Leuciscus phoxinus, Phoxinus chrysoprasius, Phoxinus csikii, Phoxinus isetensis, Phoxinus laevis, Phoxinus laevis, Phoxinus laevis balchaschana, Phoxinus laevis var. balchaschana, Phoxinus lumaireul, Phoxinus marsilii, Phoxinus morella, Phoxinus phoxinus carpathicus, Phoxinus phoxinus phoxinus, Phoxinus rivularis, Phoxinus varius, Phoxynus montanus, Salmo rivularis

Other names and names in other languages (38)
  • Channel minnowEnglish
  • Common minnowEnglish
  • pescarduAsturian
  • střevle potočníCzech
  • PilcodWelsh
  • pilcodynWelsh
  • elritseDanish
  • Almindelig elritseDanish
  • ElritzeGerman
  • BitterfischGerman
  • MaipiereGerman
  • PfrilleGerman
  • ΚοκκινόγαστροςGreek
  • piscardoSpanish
  • mutuFinnish
  • vaironFrench
  • Vairon de la MancheFrench
  • rainėLithuanian
  • ørekytNorwegian Bokmål
  • åkyteNorwegian Bokmål
  • ålekueNorwegian Bokmål
  • blindsildNorwegian Bokmål
  • goløyeNorwegian Bokmål
  • gørkyteNorwegian Bokmål
  • elritsDutch
  • ørekytNorwegian Nynorsk
  • gorsildNorwegian Nynorsk
  • kimeNorwegian Nynorsk
  • pøytNorwegian Nynorsk
  • simenNorwegian Nynorsk
  • strzebla potokowaPolish
  • обыкновенный гольянRussian
  • geadgenoarsaNorthern Sami
  • pisanecSlovenian
  • elritsaSwedish
  • otbaligiTurkish
  • otbalığıTurkish
  • Гольян звичайнийUkrainian

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaITISTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the minnow

Other species in the same genus Phoxinus.

CompareMinnow vs Adour minnowMinnow vs Phoxinus kumgangensisMinnow vs Languedoc minnowMinnow vs Aegean minnow

Common questions

Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.

What kind of animal is the minnow?

The minnow is a bony fish. It belongs to the family Cyprinidae and the subfamily Leuciscinae.

What is the scientific name of the minnow?

The scientific name of the minnow is Phoxinus phoxinus, in the genus Phoxinus.

Who named the minnow and when?

The minnow's scientific name is attributed to (Linnaeus, 1758).

Is the minnow endangered?

No. The IUCN Red List assesses the minnow globally as Least Concern (LC), which is not a threatened category.

What other names does the minnow have?

The minnow is also called the common minnow and the channel minnow.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/phoxinus-phoxinus

MLA

“Minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/phoxinus-phoxinus.

BibTeX
@misc{phoxinus_phoxinus_2026,
  title = {Minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/phoxinus-phoxinus},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}