Iberian Barbel
| Iberian barbel | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cypriniformes |
| Family: | Cyprinidae |
| Genus: | Luciobarbus (disputed) |
| Species: | L. comizo |
| Binomial name | |
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Luciobarbus comizo (Steindachner, 1864) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Barbus comizo Steindachner, 1864 (but see text) |
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Barbus comizo Steindachner, 1864 (but see text)
The Iberian barbel (Luciobarbus comizo) is a ray-finned fish species in the family Cyprinidae. It is here placed in Luciobarbus following the IUCN, but that genus is very closely related to the other typical barbels and perhaps better considered a mere subgenus of Barbus. This large barbel can grow to over 50 cm (20 in) long.
Natural hybrids of this barbel and the closely related L. bocagei are not uncommon in the middle Tagus river. The two species and their hybrids are hard to distinguish, but L. comizo has a longer and more narrow, and the last unbranched ray of the dorsal fin has a longer denticulated section but with more widely spaced denticles. In the first two traits the hybrids are intermediate between their parent species, in the latter they are closer to the Iberian Barbel. Also, the two species are distinguished by their microhabitat preferences where they are sympatric, with L. bocagei inhabiting somewhat faster-moving parts of the river. The hybridisation confounds phylogenetic studies based only on mtDNA.
L. comizo is endemic to the Iberian Peninsula, where it occurs in both Portugal and Spain. It inhabits the slow-moving middle and lower parts of rivers and reservoirs in the Tagus' and the Guadiana Rivers' drainage basins. Its habitat are deep and almost stagnant waters with abundant aquatic vegetation
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