''Rhinichthys'', known as the riffle daces, is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

in the carp

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

(

Cyprinidae Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest verte ...

) of the order

Cypriniformes Cypriniformes is an order of ray-finned fish, including the carps, minnows, loaches, and relatives. Cypriniformes is an Order within the Superorder Ostariophysi consisting of "Carp-like" Ostariophysins. This order contains 11-12 families, ...

. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

is ''

Rhinichthys atratulus Eastern blacknose dace (''Rhinichthys atratulus'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Rhinichthys''. Its name originates from the Old French word "dars" which is the nominative form of the word "dart" in reference to their swimming pat ...

'', the blacknose dace. ''Rhinichthys'' species range throughout

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. The genus contains eight living species, one of which (the loach minnow) is considered Vulnerable. It also includes the extinct

Las Vegas dace The Las Vegas dace (''Rhinichthys deaconi'') is a species of cyprinid fish. It was found only in the Las Vegas Valley in the United States. It was declared extinct in 1986 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature The Internatio ...

, which was only first described in 1984 and had disappeared by 1986. The cheat minnow (''Pararhinichthys bowersi''), a natural

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

of the longnose dace (''R. cataractae'') and the

river chub The river chub (''Nocomis micropogon'') is a minnow in the family Cyprinidae. It is one of the most common fishes in North American streams. Appearance and anatomy The river chub is a robust minnow, dark olivaceous above to dusky yellow below, ...

(''Nocomis micropogon''), was formerly placed in this genus, but is now valid under ''

Pararhinichthys The cheat minnow (''Pararhinichthys bowersi'') is a demersal, freshwater fish endemic to the United States, most commonly found in the Ohio River basin. It is the only species in the genus Pararhinichthys. Its taxonomic status is debatable and ...

''. The riffle daces are a basal lineage in an insufficiently resolved

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

of American

Leuciscinae Leuciscinae is a subfamily of the freshwater fish family Cyprinidae, which contains the true minnows. Members of the Old World (OW) clade of minnows within this subfamily are known as European minnows. As the name suggests, most members of the O ...

. Such a group had been proposed on

anatomical Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

evidence, and was verified using

mtDNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA ...

12S rRNA

sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is calle ...

s.(Simons & Mayden 1997)

Species

* ''

'' ( Hermann, 1804) (Eastern blacknose dace) * ''

Rhinichthys cataractae The longnose dace (''Rhinichthys cataractae'') is a freshwater minnow native to North America. ''Rhinicthys'' means snout fish (reference to the long snout) and ''cataractae'' means of the cataract (first taken from Niagara Falls). Longnose dace ...

'' (

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...

, 1842) (Longnose dace) * '' Rhinichthys cobitis'' ( Girard, 1856) (Loach minnow) * †'' Rhinichthys deaconi'' R. R. Miller, 1984 (Las Vegas dace) * '' Rhinichthys evermanni'' Snyder, 1908 (Umpqua dace) * '' Rhinichthys falcatus'' ( C. H. Eigenmann & R. S. Eigenmann, 1893) (Leopard dace) * '' Rhinichthys obtusus'' Agassiz, 1854 (Western blacknose dace) * ''

Rhinichthys osculus The speckled dace (''Rhinichthys osculus''), also known as the spotted dace and the carpita pinta, is a member of the minnow family. It is found in temperate freshwater in North America, from Sonora, Mexico to British Columbia, Canada. Canada ...

'' ( Girard, 1856) (Speckled dace) * '' Rhinichthys umatilla'' ( C. H. Gilbert & Evermann, 1894) (Umatilla dace)

References

* (1997): Phylogenetic Relationships of the Creek Chubs and the Spine-Fins: an Enigmatic Group of North American Cyprinid Fishes (Actinopterygii: Cyprinidae). ''Cladistics'' 13(3): 187-205. (HTML abstract) {{Taxonbar, from=Q2716403 Cyprinidae genera Cyprinid fish of North America