Stone Loach
Barbatula barbatula
Also known as: European Stone Loach, Groundling, Bearded Stone Loach, Siberian Stone Loach
About This Species
A small, mottled bottom-dweller of clear, well-oxygenated streams and rivers, spending daylight hours wedged under stones or in gravel and emerging to feed after dark. Look for it by gently lifting streambed stones in shallow riffles rather than by watching open water, and check nets or traps set overnight for the best chance of a sighting. Cooler, well-oxygenated conditions in spring and autumn tend to bring it into shallower margins.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Handle only if permitted locally, since freshwater fish surveys and handling are regulated in many countries and often require a licence.
- Keep disturbance to the streambed to a minimum, replace any lifted stones to their original position, and return any fish caught incidentally to the water promptly and gently.
- Where rules on netting or handling are unclear, the safer course is to observe without touching.
LCNaNCypriniformesNemacheilidae
Seasonal Activity
584,189 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- NaN
- Order
- Cypriniformes
- Family
- Nemacheilidae
Photo
(c) Mindaugas Kirstukas, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Mindaugas Kirstukas
CC-BY-NC-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.