barbel, noun

/ˈbɑːb(ə)l/
Plurals:
unchanged, or barbels.
Origin:
English, French, LatinShow more Transferred use of English barbel a type of fish, from French barbel a whisker-like appendage found, usually in pairs, beside the mouths of certain fish, adaptation of Latin barba beard.
Note:
The common name ‘barbel’ and the generic name Barbus (yellowfish) are sometimes confused (see quotation 1930 at sense 3); quotation 1838 may more correctly belong at sense 3.
1. A freshwater fish of the Cyprinidae.
1838 J.E. Alexander Exped. into Int. II. 204Among other fish caught here were two which seemed to be novel: one..had a purse or bag-like mouth, and eleven rays to the dorsal fin, was evidently a barbel (barbus), but peculiar from having its nose produced and rounded, like the Cyprinus Narus.
1867 Blue Bk for Col. 1866 FF19The Stormberg Spruit and other streams abound in barbel, white, and yellow fish, which are excellent food.
2. Any of several marine and estuarine fishes of the Plotosidae (barbel-eel) and Ariidae (sea barbel) families, of the order Siluriformes, with fleshy filaments hanging from their mouths and poisonous fin spines; bagger sense 1; barber sense 2; catfish sense 3.
1850 R.G.G. Cumming Hunter’s Life I. 217They captured lots of mullet and barbel, averaging from one to four pounds in weight.
1907 E. London Dispatch 7 Oct. (Pettman)Barbel, or more correctly ‘catfish’.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 46Barbel or Barber, (1) The East London name for the fish Galeichthys feliceps. See Catfish. (2) A freshwater fish.
1930 C.L. Biden Sea-Angling Fishes 283Apart from the sting ray, if ever there is a fish of the sea one should treat with great caution it is the barbel.
1949 J.L.B. Smith Sea Fishes of Sn Afr. 108Plotosus anguillaris,..Barbel-eel. Barber...Despite the repulsive appearance of the fish, the flesh is excellent and wholesome...Tachysurus feliceps,..Barbel. Barber. Sea-Barbel. Catfish. Bagger.
1967 E. Rosenthal Encycl. of Sn Afr. 100Mud-barbel or Platkop Barger, The best-known South African river species north of Cape...Cape Barger or Sea Barbel..is common all round the South African coast.
1983 Cape Times 9 July 11When they did pick up a reef which produced a few red roman or stumpnose, it was not long before hordes of small sharks and barbel devoured the entire catch.
1994 SA Commercial Marine Sept.–Nov. 32Mr Drew Hunter..has started the first tag-and-release programme of one of this country’s most arresting fish — Galeichthyes feliceps, better known as the barbel...According to Dr [Deon] Rall, regular ingestion of Galeichthyes feliceps could have excellent lesion regenerative propensities...The [Breede River] Lodge’s chief chef..had produced a number of haute cuisine platters incorporating barbel...According to a Sea Fisheries spokesman only the sea barbel has spines, but both sea and fresh water [barbel] have whiskers.
3. Any of several freshwater fishes of the Bagridae, Clariidae, Schilbeidae, Amphiliidae, and Malapteruridae families of the order Siluriformes, characterized by fleshy filaments hanging from the mouth; bagger sense 2; catfish sense 2. See also barber sense 1 b.
a1875 T. Baines Jrnl of Res. (1964) II. 134The River abounded with fish, of which the principal was the barbel — Silurus capensis — I think; a wide-mouthed creature, whose insatiate jaws repeatedly caused the birds we shot to disappear beneath the surface.
1893 H.A. Bryden Gun & Camera 463We were particularly successful among the barbel. This fish (Glanis silurus) grows to enormous weight and size in the larger African rivers.
1897 J.P. Fitzpatrick Outspan 113It (sc. the river)..carried samples of dressed stone and Portland cement to the barbel and crocodiles of Ingwenye Umkulu, thirty miles away.
1920 F.C. Cornell Glamour of Prospecting 306We had an alleged meal at midday by the river, where Gert caught a small barbel...With the aid of the pea flour, and the bacon frizzled on a prospecting shovel, we ate it, bones and all.
1930 C.L. Biden Sea-Angling Fishes 286There are about a thousand species of harmless, soft-finned, freshwater barbels which are called ‘cat-fish’ in some countries. To avoid confusion due to local names, the South African fresh-water barbel is Clarias of family Siluridae. The name ‘barbel’ would have been more properly applied to the many species of Barbus and allied genera of the Cyprinidae were it not that the name is used throughout South Africa for the Silurids.
1946 L.G. Green So Few Are Free 174Many people in South-West Africa prefer Swakopmund to any of the Union’s seaside resorts. They catch whiskered barbel from the iron jetty.
1964 G. Campbell Old Dusty 147Barbel we know can travel overland. We have heard the ‘clop-clop-clop-clop’ as they smack their way with tail and fins over rocks from pool to pool, and they are said to be able to travel long distances by land.
1967 R.A. Jubb Freshwater Fishes of Sn Afr. 131Species of Clarias, catfish or barbel,..are notorious for the length of time they can live out of water...Even in well-oxygenated water..they eventually die if prevented from going to the surface to take gulps of air and expel vitiated air.
1988 C. Norman in S. Afr. Panorama Dec. 41Monster barbel or catfish are the country’s biggest freshwater fish and are found wherever the water is not too cold.
A freshwater fish of the Cyprinidae.
Any of several marine and estuarine fishes of the Plotosidae (barbel-eel) and Ariidae (sea barbel) families, of the order Siluriformes, with fleshy filaments hanging from their mouths and poisonous fin spines; bagger sense 1; barber sense 2; catfish sense 3.
Any of several freshwater fishes of the Bagridae, Clariidae, Schilbeidae, Amphiliidae, and Malapteruridae families of the order Siluriformes, characterized by fleshy filaments hanging from the mouth; bagger sense 2; catfish sense 2.
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Bara, nounn.barber, nounn.
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