Common barbel (Barbus barbus)
General data
- Main name: Common barbel
- Climates: Temperate, Continental, Mountain
- Habitat: Freshwater
- Native: Europe
- Distribution: Danube, Rhine, Elbe, Meuse (Maas), Ems, Dnieper, View all... Charente, Vistula, Oder, Arno, Loire, River Severn, River Wye, Garonne, Trent, Great Ouse, Bristol Avon, River Ribble, River Tees, River Taff, River Ely, Soca
Classification
- Genus: Barbus - Barbel
- Family: Cyprinidae - Carps
- Order: Cypriniformes - Carps
- Class: Teleostei - Ray-finned fishes
- Superclass: Osteichthyes - Bony fishes
Description
The barbel is a slender, rather elongate fish with a thick-lipped, crescent-shaped mouth and four barbels, which it uses to search out fish, mollusks, and other food along the river bottom. The barbel is greenish and usually attains a length and weight of about 70-80 cm and 5-10 kg.