Lizard barbel

The lizard barbel (Barbus lacerta), also known as Kura barbel, is a species of freshwater cyprinid fish from the Near East region. Kosswig's barbel is now a synonym, which also places the species in the Tigris–Euphrates river system of the Middle east.

The specific epithet lacerta is Latin for lizard, but the allusion was not explained by Heckel.

Subspecies
The species is monotypic, with no subspecies accepted as valid. However, two former subspecies have been elevated to full species status:
 * B. l. cyri De Filippi, 1865, accepted as Barbus cyri
 * B. l. escherichii Steindachner, 1897 accepted as Luciobarbus escherichii