Labeobarbus is a mid-sized ray-finned fish genus in the family Cyprinidae.

The scientific name refers to the fact that these large barbs recall the fairly closely related "carps" in the genus Labeo in size and shape.

Barbus has been split to account for the improved phylogenetic knowledge which indicated it was highly paraphyletic in its wide circumscription; it may be that Carasobarbus and some other closely related "barbs" (e.g. Labeobarbus reinii) are now included in Labeobarbus to avoid a profusion of very small genera.

[3] The taxonomy of many species in the "wastebin genus" Barbus has recently been re-evaluated.

Though hybrid introgression may confound studies based in mtDNA data alone, a number of these species appear to be so closely related to Labeobarbus as to warrant inclusion in the present genus outright, irrespective of whether Carasobarbus is considered distinct or not.