The chubbyhead barb (''Enteromius anoplus'') is a species of freshwater

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

in the genus ''

Enteromius ''Enteromius'' is a genus of small to medium-sized cyprinid fish native to tropical Africa. Most species were placed in the genus ''Barbus ''Barbus'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. The type species of ''Barbus'' is ...

''. The fish is found throughout

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in a variety of aquatic environments. The species is notable for its two breeding seasons, which allows it to flourish despite a short lifespan.

Identification

The females () are larger than males (). They have blunt heads with a small mouth. A few beards reach down to the mouth. During the breeding season the males are brightly golden coloured, otherwise all the fish are a greyish green on the back with a small spot on the tail fin.

Distribution

The fish is widespread in

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 wate ...

s from the

Highveld The Highveld (Afrikaans: ''Hoëveld'', where ''veld'' means "field") is the portion of the South African inland plateau which has an altitude above roughly 1500 m, but below 2100 m, thus excluding the Lesotho mountain regions to the south-east of ...

down to

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

, former

Transkei Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ban ...

and the middle and upper parts of the

Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...

. The species is also found in the bigger rivers of the Western and Eastern Cape.

Habitat

The fish prefers cooler water to live in and occur in a variety of habitats, from large lakes and rivers to small streams. They keep to dark waters where there are shadows, for example under fallen trees. They

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

twice during the year, once between November and January and again from February to March. It is thought that the dual breeding seasons has allowed ''Barbus anoplus'' to be as successful as it is in entering various environments across South Africa. The female lays her eggs against the vegetation. The larvae hatch within three days and began to swim and feed after 6 to 7 days and reach maturity after one year. Most males are only two years old and females reach up to three years old. The species is

omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutri ...

and eat

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s, zoo plankton,

green algae The green algae (singular: green alga) are a group consisting of the Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister which contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/Streptophyta. The land plants (Embryophytes) have emerged deep in the Charophyte alga as ...

and

diatoms A diatom (New Latin, Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατέμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group com ...

. They themselves fall prey to larger fish and birds.

Footnotes

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2426059 Enteromius Freshwater fish of South Africa Taxa named by Max Carl Wilhelm Weber Fish described in 1897