The name barbel derived from the Latin barba, meaning beard, a reference to the two pairs of barbels, a longer pair pointing forwards and slightly down positioned, on the side of the mouth.

It has a long and slender body, with a mouth equipped with characteristic four barbels (hence the common and genus names).

Like the common barbel, these long-lived fishes have their natural habitats in running waters of rivers and rarely freshwater lakes.

They inhabit the water just above the bottom (benthopelagic), feeding on benthic invertebrates, small fish and algae.

[1] Mitochondrial phylogeny and taxonomic revision of Italian and Slovenian fluvio-lacustrine barbels, Barbus sp.