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
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.