Barbel (fish)
Barbels are a group of carp-like freshwater fish, almost all of the genus Barbus. They are usually found in gravel and rocky-bottomed moderate-flowing rivers with high dissolved oxygen content, known as the Barbel zone. A typical adult barbel can range from in length and weigh between and, depending on species.
The name barbel derived from the Latin barba, meaning beard, a reference to the two pairs of barbels, a longer pair pointing forwards and slightly down positioned, on the side of the mouth.
Fish described as barbels by English-speaking people may not be known as barbels in their native language, although the root of the word may be similar. For instance, the Mediterranean barbel is known as barbeau méridional or barbeau truité in France, but also as drogan, durgan, tourgan, turquan and truitat.
Europe
Barbus barbus, is found throughout northern and eastern Europe, ranging north and east from Great Britain, the Pyrénées and Alps to Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Ukraine and Russia and the northern Black Sea basin, is known simply as the barbel in the and is a popular sport fish, weighing up to. No subspecies of B. barbus are recognised.The Mediterranean barbel is found in Spain and the south of France. It is a much smaller fish than B. barbus.
The Crimean barbel is found in the Salgir River in the Crimean peninsula. Also the Kuban barbel is found in the upper and middle Kuban River in Russia.
Other barbel in Europe include Luciobarbus sclateri, sometimes known as the European barbel; the Italian barbel ; the Albanian barbel ; Barbus thessalus, Barbus tyberinus and the Iberian barbels, which are found in Spain and Portugal and are eaten by many European duck species. These both grow larger than B. barbus, up to for the Comizo barbel.
The Dalmatian barbelgudgeon is an endangered species, native to Bosnia and Croatia. It relies on karst cave systems to spawn.
Asia
The Mangar or pike barbel is found in Tigris–Euphrates river system, and can grow to The species scientific name essentially means "pike-like pike-barbel", though a more literal translation would be "pike-like wolf-barbel".The Aral barbel is found in Central Asia, and Luicobarbus caspius is found in the Caspian Sea.
The Bulatmai barbel is found in rivers of the Aral and Caspian Sea basins.
The Kura barbel is found in the Kura river in Trans-caucasia and Lake Sevan in Armenia.
The Terek barbel is found in the Kuma River, Russia.
The Lizard barbel is found in Syria.
The Amur barbel or Barbel steed is found in the Amur basin and elsewhere in east and south-east Asia, including south-east Siberia.
The bihorned barbel is found in Burma and India.
The Fourbarbel scraper is a related species found in Turkey in Asia.
Africa
Several small species called barbel including Luciobarbus callensis are found in the Maghreb region of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. The largest of these, Luciobarbus maghrebensis, is almost the same size as B. barbus.The Ripon barbel is found in the African Great Lakes.
Labeobarbus bynni bynni is found in the Nile and lakes that have been connected to that river. The sub-species Labeobarbus bynni occidentalis is known as the Niger barb.