The brook barbel (''Barbus caninus'') is a species of
ray-finned fish
Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...
in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Cyprinidae
Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family, including the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives the barbs and barbels, among others. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family, and t ...
, the family which includes the carps, barbs and related species. It is found in
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. Its natural
habitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, 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 manifestation of its ...
is
river
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
s. It is threatened by
habitat degradation
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...
and by competition from introduced species
Taxonomy
The brook barbel was first formally described in 1839 by the French
art collector
A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...
and
biologist
A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...
Charles Lucien Bonaparte
Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857) was a French naturalist and ornithology, ornithologist, and a nephew of Napoleon. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal ...
Piedmont
Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...
Basin in Italy. The brook barb belongs to the genus ''
Barbus
''Barbus'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. The type species of ''Barbus'' is the common barbel, first described as ''Cyprinus barbus'' and now named ''Barbus barbus''. ''Barbus'' is the namesake genus of the subfamily Ba ...
'', commonly referred to as barbels, which belongs to the
subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...
Barbinae
Barbinae are a subfamily of fish included in the family Cyprinidae. The taxonomy for this group has not been entirely worked out as some genera historically considered within it are still considered ''incertae sedis'' with respect to being a membe ...
of the family Cyprinidae.
Etymology
The brook barbel belongs to the genus ''Barbus'', this name being Latin for "beard" and the genus was named in 1805 by
François Marie Daudin
François Marie Daudin (; 29 August 1776 in Paris – 30 November 1803 in Paris) was a French zoologist.
Biography
With legs paralyzed by childhood disease, he studied physics and natural history but ended up being devoted to the latter.
Daudin w ...
as a
tautonym
A tautonym is a scientific name of a species in which both parts of the name have the same spelling, such as '' Rattus rattus''. The first part of the name is the name of the genus and the second part is referred to as the ''specific epithet'' i ...
with the
type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, 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 spe ...
being '' Cyprinus barbus''. This name may also refer to the four
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 cyprini ...
s possessed by 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 ...
, two at the tip of the snout and at one at each corner of mouth, it may also be derived from
vernacular name
Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken form of language, particularly when perceived as having lower social status or less prestige than standard language, which is more codified, institutionally promoted, literary, or formal. More n ...
s, such as barbylle in
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...
and barbel in
Old French
Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th
specific
Specific may refer to:
* Specificity (disambiguation)
* Specific, a cure or therapy for a specific illness
Law
* Specific deterrence, focussed on an individual
* Specific finding, intermediate verdict used by a jury in determining the final ...
name, ''caninus'', meaning "canine" and coming from the Italian vernacular, ''barb canin'', used in Piedmont for this species.
Description
The brook barbel can be told apart from other Italian barbel species by having between 36 and 47 scales along the lateral line and by the speckled pattern of large irregular spots and blotches on the back, flanks and fins. It has a black peritoneum. The fins are thick and fleshy while the caudal fin has rounded lobes. This species is a maximum
standard length
Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of fish anatomy, their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and fishery biology.
Overall length
Standard length (SL) is ...
of .
Distribution and habitat
The brook barbel is endemic to the northern Adriatic Sea catchment in Italy and Switzerland. The northernmost extent of its distribution is in the Marecchia River and south to the
Brenta River
The Brenta is an Italian river that runs from Trentino to the Adriatic Sea just south of the Venetian lagoon in the Veneto region, in the north-east of Italy.
During the Roman era, it was called Medoacus (Ancient Greek: ''Mediochos'', ''Μηδ ...
, encompassing the Po River system. This is a benthic species of subalpine rivers and streams, preferring the middle and upper reaches where the water is cool, clear and with a current. They prefer hard and coarse substrates of gravel, stones, boulders and rock.
Conservation
The brook barbel is assessed as
Near Threatened
A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...
by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...
. The threats to this species include habitat alteration, pollution amd non native
invasive species
An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...