Barbus plebejus

Italian barbel
92/43/EEC Directive  ann. II and V

It is endemic of Italy.With a medium/ big size (up to 70 cm), it is a specie typical of bottom and it occupies the upper middle sections of lowland rivers, even small, provided with well-oxygenated waters.
In this area it is a typical specie of lithophile spawnnig cyprinids and it live in clear, fast and oxygenated waters with stony and gravelly substrate but, sometimes, even downstream.
Its diet consists of insect larvae, crustaceans, annelids and occasionally macrophytes.
Although it is a relatively common species yet, it is threatened mainly by river beds tampering that cause the destruction of areas suitable for breeding. Even the input of allochthonous strains of barbels are harmful because they may lead to competition and the hybridization threatens the genetic identity of indigenous populations.