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Okay... Time for me to increase my personal knowledge bank...

Some fish classifications are easier for me to absorb than others... Livebearers give birth to live young (duh! )... Labyrinths breathe air... But without getting too technical, what about the others? What distinguishes Characins? Or Cyprinids? etc... Region of origin? Actual fish traits of some kind? What?

I've read these names for years -- but have never known the basis for the classification... Focusing more on compatability, temperment, size, etc....

But I'd really like to learn more.... Thanks in advance for your patience and time!



To thine own self be true...

this might help http://www.aquariumsite.org/families_old.cfm
I don't necessarily totally agree with all the descriptions (the the statement about bettas being artificially colored could have been worded a little better), but it should give you a good start.

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I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.
~ Mae West

Classification of fish works like classification of most other groups of organisms. Anatomical characteristics are usually the focus and have been for many years, although the introduction of genetics into biology means we can also look at similarities in genes and proteins to determine how closely related some organisms may be.

In any case, if you just look at the fish enough and you know, in general, what fish are in what groups, you get a general idea for what traits each group has. For example, I know off the top of my head that Barbs are Cyprinids and Tetras are Characins; some people have a habit of lumping all small schooling fish as tetras, but only because they don't know any better. In any case, one thing you might look at is that Characins, unlike Cyprinids, tend to have teeth (or at least, Characin teeth is a lot easier for me to see, lol). On the other hand, a good number of Cyprinids (but not all) have barbels on either side of their mouths, though for some species you may have to look quite closely. Of course, just because Tetras have teeth doesn't mean they're related to, say, sharks. On the other hand, Piranhas ARE related to Tetras.

Usually, though, because the way this works, you can also generalize many groups by where they live. Many Cyprinids, at least the ones we see in the hobby, are Asian fish, while most Tetras are South American or African, although not all from the same family. However, their origin is not how they are classified.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.