Barbel (zoology)

Fish that have barbels include the catfish, the carp, the goatfish, the hagfish, the sturgeon, the zebrafish, the black dragonfish and some species of shark such as the sawshark.

[2] Muscle tissue in the central region of the barbel allows the structure limited movement that aids in prey manipulation.

[3] The abyssal zone scavengers Coryphaenoides armatus possess one small mandible barbel that they use to search the seafloor for carrion to eat.

In the species Triportheus signatus, individuals have been found to develop barbels late in life as a response to low dissolved oxygen in pools left after flood waters recede following the rainy season.

[7] These structures are more vascularized than barbels of other fish species to help gas exchange in low oxygen conditions and direct more water flow over the gills.