COM+ Programming with Visual Basic

Colophon

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The fish on the cover of COM+ Programming with Visual Basic are minnows. Although the term “minnow” is commonly used to describe any number of small freshwater fish, minnow is actually the name for a family of fish, most of which are dull in color and only a few inches in length. Some species of minnow, however, grow to a foot in length, and the males turn bright red or orange just before the spring spawning season. The family includes various types of chubs, daces, shriners, minnows, and carp, all of which have scaleless heads, toothless jaws (but teeth on a bone in the throat), pelvic fins (rather than fins extending from their sides), and a single dorsal fin in common.

Minnows are extremely plentiful in North American freshwaters, forming the basis of fish fauna in most ponds, lakes, streams, and rivers. Many of the smaller minnow species perform key roles in the food chain; these “primary consumers” feed on bottom ooze, algae, and aquatic plants and in turn serve as protein-rich meals for larger fish and fish-eating birds.

While the minnow family has been evolutionarily successful, diversifying into many species that densely occupy a variety of habitats and perform key functions in the food chain, it has been challenged recently ...