''Barbus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

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 h ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Cyprinidae. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

of ''Barbus'' is 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 ...

, first described as ''Cyprinus barbus'' and now named ''Barbus barbus''. ''Barbus'' is the namesake genus of the subfamily Barbinae, but given their relationships, that

taxon In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

is better included in the

Cyprininae The Cyprininae are one of at least 11 subfamilies of cyprinid fish. It contains three genera in its strictest definition but many more are included depending on which authority is defining it, especially if the Labeobarbinae is not considered t ...

at least for the largest part (including the type species of ''Barbus'').

Description and uses

Their common names –

barb Barb or the BARBs or ''variation'' may refer to: People * Barb (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * Barb, a term used by fans of Nicki Minaj to refer to themselves * The Barbs, a band Places * Barb, ...

s and

barbel Barbel may refer to: *Barbel (anatomy), a whisker-like organ near the mouth found in some fish (notably catfish, loaches and cyprinids) and turtles *Barbel (fish), a common name for certain species of fish **''Barbus barbus'', a species of cyprinid ...

s – refer to the fact that most members of the genera have a pair of

s on their mouths, which they can use to search for food at the bottom of the water. Barbels are often fished for food; in some locations they are of commercial significance. The

roe Roe ( ) or hard roe is the fully ripe internal egg masses in the ovaries, or the released external egg masses, of fish and certain marine animals such as shrimp, scallop, sea urchins and squid. As a seafood, roe is used both as a cooked in ...

of barbels is poisonous, however. The large ''Barbus'' barbs are also often eaten in their native range. At Shanhûr in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, remains of a jar from the sixth- to seventh-century AD were unearthed that contained fish bones. The fish were apparently pickled to produce a dish similar to the modern '' fesikh'' (or ''faseekh''). Among the ancient remains, barbs (perhaps ''

Barbus perince ''Enteromius perince'' is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Enteromius'' which has a disjunct distributed from Guinea to Uganda, and throughout length of the Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a majo ...

'') were plentiful, and Egyptians now still consider ''B. perince'' good for preparing ''fesikh'', as it is traditionally done for the ''

Sham el-Nessim , nickname = , observedby = Egyptians , begins = , ends = , date = The day after Eastern Christian Easter , date2012 = 14 April , date2013 = 6 May , date2014 = 21 April , date2015 = 13 April ...

'' (spring festival) celebrations.Van Neer, W. & Depraetere, D. (2005): Pickled fish from the Egyptian Nile : osteological evidence from a Byzantine (Coptic) context at Shanhûr. ''Revue de Paléobiologie, S.10: 159-170.'' The smaller barbs are in some cases traded as aquarium fish. Some are quite significant, but as a whole, the genus is not yet as well represented in aquaria as the

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

n '' Puntius''.Lambert, D.J. (1997): ''Freshwater Aquarium Fish''. Chartwell Books, Edison, New Jersey, USA. One species, ''

Barbus microbarbis ''Labeobarbus microbarbis'' is an extinct species of cyprinid Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprin ...

'' from Rwanda, is known to have gone extinct in recent times. Several others are only known from the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes th ...

s, and their status and continuing existence must be confirmed. As many of these are from Lake Victoria, which underwent massive

ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

upheaval after

Nile perch The Nile perch (''Lates niloticus''), also known as the African snook, Goliath perch, African barramundi , Goliath barramundi, Giant lates or the Victoria perch, is a species of freshwater fish in family Latidae of order Perciformes. It is wi ...

(''Lates nilosus'') were introduced, some of them likely have not survived, either.

Systematics and taxonomy

''Barbus'' has a long history as a "

wastebasket taxon Wastebasket taxon (also called a wastebin taxon, dustbin taxon or catch-all taxon) is a term used by some taxonomists to refer to a taxon that has the sole purpose of classifying organisms that do not fit anywhere else. They are typically defined ...

". Historically, most fish commonly known as " barbs" were usually placed here by default. More recently, many "barbs" have been reclassified into genera such as '' Arabibarbus'', '' Barbichthys'', ''

Barbodes ''Barbodes'' is a genus of small to medium-sized cyprinid fish native to tropical Asia. The majority of the species are from Southeast Asia. Many species are threatened and some from the Philippines (Lake Lanao) are already extinct. A survey carr ...

'', ''

Barboides ''Barboides'' is a genus of very small ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae from freshwater habitats in West Africa, West and Middle Africa. Species *''Barboides britzi'' Kevin W. Conway, Conway & Timo Moritz, Moritz, 2006 *''Barboides graci ...

'', ''

Barbonymus ''Barbonymus'' is a ray-finned fish genus in the family Cyprinidae, containing some barb species. The genus was only established in 1999, with the tinfoil barb (''B. schwanenfeldii'') as type species; thus, these fish are sometimes collectively ...

'', '' Barbopsis'', ''

Caecobarbus ''Caecobarbus geertsi'', the African blind barb or Congo blind barb (known as ''Nzonzi a mpofo'' in the local Kikongo language, meaning "blind barb"), is a species of cyprinid fish. This Threatened species, threatened cavefish is only known fro ...

'', ''

Capoeta ''Capoeta'', also known as scrapers, is a genus of fish in the family Cyprinidae found in Western Asia. The distribution extends from Turkey to the Levant, to Transcaucasia, Iraq, Turkmenistan , in Armenia,particularly in lake Sevan and no ...

'', ''

Carasobarbus ''Carasobarbus'', the himris, is a small genus of ray-finned fishes in the family Cyprinidae. Its species are found in rivers, streams, lakes and ponds in Western Asia and Northwest Africa. ''C. canis'' can reach in total length, but most other ...

'', ''

Clypeobarbus ''Clypeobarbus'' is a genus of small cyprinid fishes native to Africa. Most species are restricted to the Congo River Basin, but ''C. pleuropholis'' is also found in the Chad Basin, while ''C. bellcrossi'' is from the Zambezi and ''C. hypsolepis ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Hypselobarbus ''Hypselobarbus'' is a genus of fish in the family Cyprinidae endemic to India. Species There are currently 26 recognized species in this genus: * ''Hypselobarbus basavarajai'' Arunachalam, Chinnaraja & Mayden, 2016 Arunachalam, M., Chinnaraja ...

'', ''

Hypsibarbus ''Hypsibarbus'' is a genus of cyprinid fish that is found in freshwater in Mainland Southeast Asia, including the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Species * '' Hypsibarbus antiquus'' Roberts & Jumnongthai, 1999 – prehistoric (fossil) * '' Hypsibarbus ...

'', ''

Labeobarbus ''Labeobarbus'' is a mid-sized ray-finned fish genus in the family Cyprinidae. Its species are widely distributed throughout eastern Africa and especially southern Africa, but also in Lake Tana in Ethiopia. A common name, in particular for the s ...

'', ''

Leptobarbus ''Leptobarbus'' is a genus of cyprinid fish that are native to freshwater habitats in Southeast Asia. They are important food fish. It is the only genus in the subfamily Leptobarbinae. Leptobarbus hoevenii or "sultan fish" migrate the fresh water ...

'', ''

Luciobarbus ''Luciobarbus'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes in the family Cyprinidae. Its members are found in fresh and brackish waters of southern Europe, northern Africa, the wider Near East, the Aral and Caspian Seas, and rivers associated with these. ...

'', '' Mesopotamichthys'', '' Poropuntius'', ''

Probarbus ''Probarbus'' is a genus of cyprinid freshwater fish found in Mainland Southeast Asia, especially the Mekong River The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest r ...

'', ''

Pseudobarbus ''Pseudobarbus'' is a ray-finned fish genus in the family Cyprinidae. The type species is Burchell's redfin (''P. burchelli''). The scientific name is derived from the Ancient Greek ''pseudes'' ("false") and the Latin word ''barbus'' ("beard", ...

'', ''

Puntioplites ''Puntioplites'' is a genus of cyprinid fish that occurs in Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern ...

'' and '' Puntius''.Banister, K.E. (1973): A revision of the large ''Barbus'' (Pisces, Cyprinidae) of East and Central Africa. Studies on African Cyprinidae. Part II. ''Bulletin of the British Museum, 26 (1): 3-148.'' Thus, ''Barbus'' is for the time being restricted to the typical barbels and barbs', and only contains fishes from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, as well as adjacent

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. However, the genus even in the reduced version is probably paraphyletic, and many African species (particularly the small ones) do not seem to belong here, either. Eventually, ''Barbus'' is likely to be restricted to the group around ''B. barbus'' – the large European to Ponto-Caspian species commonly known as "barbels". ''

'' and particularly '' Messinobarbus'' are highly similar and might better be included in ''Barbus'' again. They all seem to be close relatives – perhaps the closest living relatives – of ''Aulopyge huegelii''. ''

'' and ''

'' are probably closely related to this group, too, and some large

hexaploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei ( eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set contain ...

barbs (e.g. '' L. reinii'') may well belong in ''Labeobarbus''. The small barbs from Africa, by contrast, are quite distinct. They might even warrant establishment of a new subfamily – in particular if the

Labeoninae Labeoninae is a doubtfully distinct subfamily of ray-finned fishes in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. They inhabit fresh water and the largest species richness is in the region around southern China, but there are also species el ...

are not included in the Cyprininae –, as they seem to be as distinct from barbels and typical carps, as these are from the

garra ''Garra'' is a genus of fish in the family Cyprinidae. These fish are one example of the "log suckers", sucker-mouthed barbs and other cyprinids commonly kept in aquaria to keep down algae. The doctor fish of Anatolia and the Middle East belo ...

s (which are part of the disputed Labeoninae), rendering the old "Barbinae" paraphyletic. Within the small African barbs, several linages can be recognized. These are mostly diploid; a

tetraploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set contains ...

group largely restricted to southern Africa is very close to ''

'' and might even be included therein. In particular, the group called "redfins" may well be monophyletic and belong in ''Pseudobarbus'' entirely, instead of being split between ''Pseudobarbus'' and ''Barbus''.

Species

* '' Barbus balcanicus'' Kotlík, Tsigenopoulos, Ráb & Berrebi, 2002 (Danube barbel) * '' Barbus barbus'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

, 1758) (Common barbel) * '' Barbus bergi'' Chichkoff, 1935 (Bulgarian barbel) * '' Barbus biharicus'' Antal,

László László () is a Hungarian male given name and surname after the King-Knight Saint Ladislaus I of Hungary (1077–1095). It derives from Ladislav, a variant of Vladislav. Other versions are Lessl or Laszly. The name has a history of being frequ ...

& Kotlík, 2016 (Biharian barbel) Antal, L., László, B., Kotlík, P., Mozsár, A., Czeglédi, I., Oldal, M., Kemenesi, G., Jakab, F. & Nagy, S.A. (2015): Phylogenetic evidence for a new species of ''Barbus'' in the Danube River basin. ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 96: 187–194.'' * '' Barbus borysthenicus'' Dybowski, 1862 * '' Barbus caninus'' Bonaparte, 1839 (brook barbel) * '' Barbus carottae'' (

Bianco Bianco is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Reggio Calabria, in southern Italy. It is a seaside town and a popular tourist resort. The main attractions are the remainings of an old abbey and the ruins of a Roman house. See also *Calabri ...

, 1998) * '' Barbus carpathicus'' Kotlík, Tsigenopoulos, Ráb & Berrebi, 2002 (Carpathian barbel) * '' Barbus ciscaucasicus''

Kessler Kessler or Keßler (in German) may refer to: * Kessler (automobile), an American automobile made 1921–1922 * Kessler (name), people named Kessler * ''Kessler'' (TV series), a British television series from 1981 * Kessler, Ohio, an unincorporat ...

, 1877 (Terek barbel) * '' Barbus cyclolepis'' Heckel, 1837 * '' Barbus ercisianus'' M. S. Karaman ( sr), 1971 * '' Barbus euboicus'' Stephanidis, 1950 (Evia barbel) * '' Barbus goktschaicus'' Kessler, 1877 (Gokcha barbel) * ''

Barbus haasi ''Barbus haasi'', or the "Catalonian barbel" ( ca, barb cua-roig; es, barbo colirrojo or ''barbo de cola roja''), is a species of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is a small size barbel found only in the northeast of the Iberian pe ...

'' Mertens, 1925 * '' Barbus kubanicus'' L. S. Berg, 1913 (Kuban barbel) * '' Barbus lacerta'' Heckel, 1843 (Kura barbel) * '' Barbus lorteti'' Sauvage, 1882 * '' Barbus macedonicus'' S. L. Karaman, 1928 * '' Barbus meridionalis'' A. Risso, 1827 (Mediterranean barbel) * '' Barbus niluferensis''

Turan Turan ( ae, Tūiriiānəm, pal, Tūrān; fa, توران, Turân, , "The Land of Tur") is a historical region in Central Asia. The term is of Iranian origin and may refer to a particular prehistoric human settlement, a historic geographical re ...

Kottelat Maurice Kottelat (born 16 July 1957 in Delémont, SwitzerlandC ...

& Ekmekçi, 2009 * ''

Barbus oligolepis The Marmara barbel (''Barbus oligolepis'') is a species of cyprinid fish endemism, endemic to Turkey where it is only known from fast flowing waters with substrates of stones or pebbles. This species can reach a length of fish measurement, SL. ...

'' Battalgil, 1941 * '' Barbus peloponnesius''

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a ...

, 1842 * '' Barbus pergamonensis'' M. S. Karaman, 1971 (Anatolian barbel) * '' Barbus petenyi'' Heckel, 1852 (Romanian barbel) * '' Barbus plebejus'' Bonaparte, 1839 (Italian barbel) * '' Barbus prespensis'' S. L. Karaman, 1924 * '' Barbus rebeli'' Koller, 1926 (Western Balkan barbel) * '' Barbus sperchiensis'' Stephanidis, 1950 (Sperchios barbel) * ''

Barbus strumicae ''Barbus strumicae'' is a disputed species of European cyprinid freshwater fish. It is found in Greece, Macedonia, and Bulgaria, in drainages of the Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo P� ...

'' S. L. Karaman, 1955 (Strumica barbel) * '' Barbus tauricus'' Kessler, 1877 (Crimean barbel) * '' Barbus thessalus'' Stephanidis, 1971 (Thessalian barbel) * '' Barbus tyberinus'' Bonaparte, 1839 (Horse barbel) * '' Barbus waleckii'' Rolik, 1970 (Vistula barbel)

Fossil species

A fossil species ('' Barbus megacephalus'' Günther, 1876) is known from the Paleogene Sipang Fauna of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

., but it probably should be placed in another genus.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q133326 Cyprinidae genera Taxa named by Georges Cuvier