Cyprinids of the New World

Abstract

New World cyprinids occur naturally throughout North America, extending as far north as the Yukon and Mackenzie river systems and terminating in southern Mexico (Barbour and Miller, 1978). Their southern terminus is the Rio Papaloapan of the Atlantic Slope and the Rio Verde, draining part of the Pacific Slope (Miller and Smith, 1986). The family is primarily temperate, with only a few members extending into the tropics. Fossil and recent evidence indicate that this group has never occurred naturally in South America or remaining Central America.