Only very few of the numerous small barb species in Africa have been able to establish themselves permanently as aquarium fish and only one species is bred so regularly that it is more frequently found in the pet trade. This species is the beautiful Angola barb, Enteromius fasciolatus. A well-known synonym of the species is Barbus barilioides.
The Angola barb reaches a length of around 6 cm. This schooling fish should always be kept in larger groups of 12 animals or more, otherwise it will remain timid, shy and pale. However, animals kept in shoals are a beautiful sight. A dark substrate and plenty of plants provide intense colors.
Angola barbs are completely peaceful towards all other fish, and plants are usually ignored. The species is originally widespread in south-eastern Africa (Angola, Botswana, D.R. Congo, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe), but is only available in the hobby as captive-bred specimens.
Lexicon: Barbus: Latin, meaning “the bearded one”, referring to the barbels. Enteromius: the genus was established by Cope in 1867 for the species potamogalis; the name was not explained, but possibly refers to an anatomical feature, the short digestive tract, which Cope considered typical of the genus. The name is therefore probably a coinage of Cope using the ancient Greek énteron (Gr. ἔντερον), for intestine. fasciolatus: Latin, meaning “finely striated”. barilioides: meaning “similar to a barilius”; Barilius is another genus of barbel.
Common names: African banded barb, Angola barb, blue-barred barb or fire barb
For our customers: the fish have code 369002 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
