Threespot barb (''Enteromius trimaculatus'') is a
species of
cyprinid fish in the large
genus ''
Enteromius''. It has a wide distribution in sub-Saharan Africa from the
Congo Basin
The Congo Basin (french: Bassin du Congo) is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It con ...
east to the Indian Ocean coast of Tanzania and south to
KwaZulu Natal in South Africa.
It occurs in shallow water around river inflows or near swampy areas. It is a habitat generalist and also hardy, but it prefers vegetated areas. It feeds on insects and other small animals. It is often caught for use as bait by anglers fishing for
tigerfish. It breeds during the summer rainy season when shoals of fertile adults migrate upstream when the rivers are in spate following rain. A single females may produce as many as 8,000 eggs.
References
Enteromius
Cyprinid fish of Africa
Fish described in 1852
Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters
{{Barbinae-stub