Barbu, Polydactylus virginicus

Barbu, Polydactylus virginicus. Fish caught off the Grand Mayan Pier, Riviera Maya, Cancun, February 2019. Length: 20 cm (7.9 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Fish caught at night; first photograph at time of catch; second photograph the following morning.

Barbu, Polydactylus virginicus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Miami Beach, Miami, Florida, July 2021. Length: 16 cm (6.3 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.

The Barbu, Polydactylus virginicus, is a member of the Threadfin or Polynemidae Family, that is also known as the Barbu Threadfin and the Seven Fingered Threadfin, and in Mexico as barbudo barbú. Globally, there are twenty species in the genus Polydactylus, of which five are found in Mexican waters, three in the Atlantic and two in the Pacific Ocean.

The Barbu has an elongated compressed bodies and are fairly similar to freshwater catfish. They are an olive blue-gray color dorsally and transition to whitish or yellowish ventrally. The snout is translucent and the anal and pelvic fins are yellowish with pale margins, the caudal and dorsal fins are yellowish with black edges, and the pectoral fin is pale but transitioning to darker at its base. Their head has a short conical snout that overhangs the moderate sized mouth and large eyes with fatty covers located at the front of the head. Their anal fin has a 3 spines and 11 to 14 rays and a short base; their caudal fin is deeply forked; their first dorsal fin has 8 spines; their second dorsal fin has 1 spines and 12 rays; their pectoral fins are low on the sides and divided into two parts: the first low and under the gills with 7 long free rays and the second in the upper section that has 14 to 16 rays; and, their pelvic fins are well behind the pectoral fins and under the first dorsal fin. They have 26 to 30 gill rakers. Their body is covered with rough scales. Their lateral line extends into the caudal fin.

The Barbu are a non-migratory species found over sandy and muddy bottoms in bays, estuaries, and river mouths, and along sandy beaches at depths up to 55 m (180 feet). They reach a maximum of 33 cm (13 inches) in length. They are nocturnal feeds that consume chaetognaths, plant material and polychaetes. Reproduction is protandrous with males changing to females with age. The Barbu is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.

The Barbfish  is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean.

The Barbu is easily confused with the Atlantic Threadfin, Polydactylus octonemus (black pectoral fins with eight free rays and 15 to 16 attached rays; 34-38 gill rakers; limited to the West Coast of the Yucatán) and the Littlescale Threadfin, Polydactylus oligodon (black pectoral fins with seven frees rays and 13 to 15 attached rays; 22-30 gill rakers; limited to the East Coast of the Yucatán in the Caribbean).

From a conservation perspective the Barbu is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are relatively small in stature and of limited interest to most. However, when available they are considered an excellent food fish. They are caught in abundance in some areas via hook and line at certain times of the year and as a by-catch in beach seines and trawls.