Roger's Angling Pages
The Stone Loach Noemacheilus barbatulus		Loach family Cobitidae

This is a typical representative of the Loach family, noted for the small proportioned, elongated, cylindrical bodies of its members. The fishes of this family have a smooth body with the minute scales, set in the skin. The Stone Loach's body is yellow-brown in colour with darker blotches, thus making the fish hard to distinguish from the river bottom. It has 6 barbels at the side of its mouth. It grows to a length of about 15 cm and lives about 5 years.

The Stone Loach lives in European rivers in mountainous and semi-mountainous, gently sloping areas. However, it is not found in Norway and northern Sweden. It favours a sandy bottom where there is a possibility of hiding under various stones. If it penetrates still waters, for instance a pond, it can multiply there very quickly indeed. It travels along the bottom with jerky movements and only gives itself away by stirring up the light mud or sand. In the breeding season, from spring until July, it sheds several thousand eggs at periodic intervals. It feeds on small larvae, found on the bot- tom and is itself often the prey of predatory fishes.

It has no sporting significance, but occasionally serves as a bait fish for predators.