fishydreams

I was a little surprised when fishing the upper river Ebro at how abundant the barbel were. This area I had imagined would be home primarily to trout. The river source is not far away and the water is cold, just the way trout like it. But the barbel are here in good numbers and it is lovely just to watch these fish in the clear river water. Armed with a fly rod, however much fun they were to observe, I could not resist having a crack at catching one. As a result I have been fortunate enough to look at these fish from up close and they are absolutely stunning.

These barbel are members of a species known variously as Iberian barbel, Ebro barbel or Graells barbel Luciobarbus graellsii and are one of 7 or 8 members of the genus Luciobarbus (there is not complete agreement and the picture can be complicated by interbreeding where populations overlap) that we have here. What is interesting is that Portugal and Spain provide the home to the largest diversity of members of Luciobarbus genus. The Ebro barbel have been introduced to France where they are not native, in the river Rhone for example. Interestingly, as far as I can tell, most if not all of the barbel species in Europe outside of Iberian peninsula are members of the genus Barbus which is represented by a single species in Spain. 

The “luciobarbus” barbel are not exclusive to the Iberian peninsula but it seems to be their stronghold. Beyond Spain and Portugal, there are four species present in North Africa (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria) and there are a couple of species in the Middle East and Central Asia. One of these is native to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and grows very large, while the other finds its home in the Mesopotamian basin. 

The diverse barbel of Spain tells a very interesting story (or at least interesting to me!). Because the peninsula is effectively cut off by the Pyrenees to the North, and because various large river drainages are separated by mountain ranges, some draining into the Atlantic ocean and others into the Mediterranean sea, there are river systems that have been effectively cut off from one another for vast tracts of time. As a result, species of fish in different river systems have diverged. To some extent this can be seen in the brown trout where trout in the river systems flowing into the Mediterranean have different markings from those flowing into the Atlantic. These differences are not sufficiently great to allow us to call them separate species (they continue to be able to interbreed successfully) but they are noticeable nonetheless. Barbel though, have taken things one step further and have evolved into a number of separate species. It seems to me that these barbel are telling us stories about geography and about deep time.

The man who wrote the book about Spanish barbel (quite literally) is John Langridge. He is an expert on these fish and has caught all of the species we have here. I had the good fortune of fishing with John on my own local river where we caught gypsy barbel Luciobarbus sclateri on the fly. John has authored several books on fish and fishing and has featured in several TV programs and we ended up, the two of us, being filmed on the Río Guadalhorce and the Río Grande targeting gypsy barbel.

I remember going into the local bar when the program was first broadcast, along with Catriona. We asked the barmen to switch the channel over so we could see the latest episode of “Jara y Sedal”. While the show was on the telly I wandered up to the bar to shout a couple of drinks hoping that the folks sitting at the bar and maybe even the barman himself might spot the celebrity in their midst. Not a bit of it! They did not twig that the guy asking for another cruzcampo and vino blanco was the same guy lighting up the silver screen. So much for my celebrity status!

I like the idea of working my way towards catching as many of the Spanish barbel species as I can. I have a few under my belt already. This is a quest that my friend Paul Reddish also has in mind. Paul has already ticked all of the species of salmonid in North America, which I think is a mind-blowing achievement but there remain a few Spanish barbel species that continue to elude him.

A goal like this, however ridiculous it may appear to be to regular people with normal life priorities, is worth pursuing if for no other reason than that we will need to travel far and wide to complete it and that, along the way, we will surely visit some beautiful places.

And of course there are a lot of regional wines we really ought to check out!