Amur Carp
Cyprinus rubrofuscus
Spotted Barb
Barbodes binotatus
About
The spotted barb is a small, quiet freshwater fish that shelters in shaded mountain streams and rivers, more often heard about than actually seen by most divers.
How to tell it apart
Fish that look like the spotted barb turn up across Southeast Asia, but they are different species; the true spotted barb is found only on Java, so location is the first check, backed up by the spot at its tail base.
Appearance
This fish is silvery grey to greenish grey, darker on its back and pale on its throat and belly. It has a bar behind its gill cover, a rounded snout about the same size as its eye, and a spot at the base of its tail. Older, larger fish often lose their other body markings but usually keep this tail-base spot.
Habitat
The spotted barb lives only on the island of Java, Indonesia. It is found in medium to large rivers and still water, as well as isolated mountain streams below waterfalls, usually swimming in the middle to lower part of shallow water.
Did you know?
Fish long called 'spotted barb' outside Java turned out to be other species or unnamed look-alikes; the true species lives only on that one island.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
