Cyprinodontiformes

Mummichogs

Cyprinodontiformes is an order of fishes. These freshwater fish are sometimes called toothcarps, though they are not related to the Cypriniformes. While cyprinids are Ostariophysi, toothcarps are Ovalentaria.

Description

Many members of the family Cyprinodontidae (the pupfishes) eat plant material as well and some have adapted to a diet very high in algae to the point where one, the American Flag Fish, is a renowned algae eater in the aquarium, in spite of belonging to an order of fishes that do not generally consume any plant material. In addition, killifish derive some of the carotenoids and other chemicals required to make their body pigments from pollen grains on the surface of and in the gut of insects they eat from the surface of the water; this can be simulated in culture by the use of special color enhancing foods that contain these compounds.

Related pages

• Serranidae
• Anthiinae
• Aeoliscoides
• Amakusaichthys
• Tosanoides flavofasciatus

References

1. Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2007). "Cyprinodontiformes" in FishBase. August 2007 version.