The Italian barbel (''Barbus plebejus'') is a species of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae, nearly related to the

common barbel The common barbel, ''Barbus barbus'', is a species of freshwater fish belonging to the family Cyprinidae. It shares the common name 'barbel' with its many relatives in the genus ''Barbus'', of which it is the type species. In Great Britain it is ...

''Barbus barbus''. 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.

Description

''Barbus plebejus'' can reach a maximum length of 70 cm in males and a maximum weight of 6 kilograms. Usually, it is much smaller. It has a long and slender body, with a mouth equipped with characteristic four barbels (hence the common and genus names). It has greenish back with black dots, sides finely dotted, whitish belly, paired fins tinged with grey and a slightly thorny dorsal ray. Lower lip has a median lobe.

Distribution

The species is found in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, Italy,

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

and Switzerland.

Habitat

Like the common barbel, these long-lived fishes have their natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s in running waters of

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

s and rarely freshwater

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s. They inhabit the water just above the bottom (

benthopelagic The demersal zone is the part of the sea or ocean (or deep lake) consisting of the part of the water column near to (and significantly affected by) the seabed and the benthos. The demersal zone is just above the benthic zone and forms a layer of ...

), feeding on benthic invertebrates, small fish and algae. They also migrate within freshwater (

potamodromous Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousan ...

), for spawning purposes. It is not considered a

threatened species Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of '' critical depen ...

by the IUCN.

References

* Helfman, G., B. Collette i D. Facey: ''The diversity of fishes''. Blackwell Science, Malden,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, United States, 1997. * Moyle, P. i J. Cech.: ''Fishes: An Introduction to Ichthyology'', 4th ed., Upper Saddle River,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

(United States): Prentice-Hall. Any 2000. * Nelson, J.: ''Fishes of the World'', 3rd. Ed. New York (United States): John Wiley and Sons. Any 1994. * Wheeler, A.: ''The World Encyclopedia of Fishes'', 2nd ed.,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

: Macdonald. Any 1985. Mitochondrial phylogeny and taxonomic revision of Italian and Slovenian fluvio-lacustrine barbels, Barbus sp. (Cypriniformes, Cyprinidae). (n.d.). https://bmczool.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40850-021-00073

External links

Fishbase
Barbus Freshwater fish of Europe Fish described in 1839 Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Barbus-stub