Barbel Facts

The barbel fish, or catfish, as it’s sometimes known is a slim, long-bodied fish, the barbel has a characteristic high dorsal fin and 2 pairs of sensory barbels about their fleshy lips. It’s a bottom-living fish, most energetic at night and also at dusk, and feeds upon insect larvae, mimage of a barbelfish South Africaollusks and crustaceans. It is a member of the family Cyprinidae.

Barbels reproduce at the end of springtime, frequently migrating upstream before breeding. They will drop their eggs in shallow, gravel-bottomed water, where they remain among the rocks right up until they will hatch from about 10 to 15 days later on.

Barbels are eaten with relish in some countries, including South Africa. They are farmed commercially in fish farms very successfully and provide an inexpensive, nutritious meal. Fish farming is highly profitable in many African Countries.

With their long whiskers they are easily recognised, often seen as the wisest of fish in African culture. Barbelfish are often caught for sport and provide great entertainment when caught by hand. Barbel are often washed downstream in times of flood and can be caught by hand as they crowd up in the narrow parts of the flood and across the river rapids. The fish are eaten with relish by indigenous peoples, usually cooked straight on the coals. For those who do not like the taste of this fish, many bystanders wait to snap up a deal. They can be tough if cooked incorrectly, and if they are very old barbel – they have also been known to taste of mud if they live in a dam.

Barbel fish can grow very large when they live in dams – usually up against the dam wall at the deepest part. In summer when the rains come they can often be caught by hand as the come down stream – very exhilarating to stand in fast flowing rapids trying to catch this vigorous fish. Some times used in muti by witch doctors, the barbel is an ugly fish, strong .. and often rated by fishermen as a great fish to catch on a line – putting up a good fight.