Should you want to weigh or photograph a barbel, let it rest within the landing net in the water until you have everything ready. When ready, it will power out of your hands with a kick of its tail. Gently lower the barbel into the water facing upstream and support it. Once landed, unhook it as quickly as possible as often as it will often need to be held in the water to revive before it can be released. The barbel is a hard fighter and won’t give up until it is completely drained. The fins are pale pink/grey in colour and are somewhat rounded in shape, the exception to this are the tail and dorsal fins which are much sharper and darker in colour. The barbel likes to lie on the bottom and face the current, its aerodynamic shape formed by its snout and head pushes water over its body, allowing it to stay in the same position. Its underbelly is cream-white in colour and very flat. It has a broad head which tapers sharply into its rounded snout, when viewed from above the barbel has a wedge-like shape, providing another way to identify it. The barbel is a bottom feeder and so has the typical mouth with a downward curve, to help with this function. These barbels are designed to feel and smell food before taking it as the barbel forages in the river bed. It is easy to identify from the four barbels on its face – one in each corner of its mouth and two on the snout. It has a grey coloured back with bronze flanks and a pearl coloured lower half. The barbel is a slim, elegant fish which is surprisingly powerful, it is found almost exclusively in rivers and a member of the carp family.
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