labeo

{{Short description|Genus of fishes}}

{{About|the fish genus|the ancient Roman cognomen|Labeo (cognomen)|the medieval German monk|Notker Labeo}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = LabeoCalbasuDay.jpg

| image_caption = orangefin labeo (Labeo calbasu)

| taxon = Labeo

| authority = Cuvier, 1816

| type_species = Cyprinus niloticus

| type_species_authority = Forsskål, 1775

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = See text

| synonyms = {{species list

|Abrostomus |Smith, 1841

|Chrysophekadion |Bleeker, 1860

|Morulius |Hamilton, 1822

|Rohita |Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1842

|Rohitichthys |Bleeker, 1860}}

| synonyms_ref = {{cite WoRMS |author=Bailly, Nicolas|year=2014|title=Labeo Cuvier, 1816|id=269582|access-date=24 September 2023}}

}}

Labeo is a genus of carps in the family Cyprinidae. They are found in freshwater habitats in the tropics and subtropics of Africa and Asia.

It contains the typical labeos in the subfamily Labeoninae, which may not be a valid group, however, and is often included in the Cyprininae as tribe Labeonini. If the Labeoninae are accepted as distinct, Labeonini is the name of the tribe in this subfamily to which the labeos belong. If the Labeonini are considered a tribe of the Cyprininae, the labeos are placed in subtribe Labeoina.

The labeos appear fairly similar to the "freshwater sharks" of the genus Epalzeorhynchos, which is also part of the Labeoninae (or Labeonini), but is not very closely related. Labeos are larger, and have a more spindle-shaped body, as they are mostly free-swimming rather than benthic like Epalzeorhynchos. Their mouths look very different, too; they have a pronounced rostral cap, which covers the upper lip except when feeding. The lips are expanded into thick, sausage-shaped pads which have keratinized edges. Thus, their mouth parts are moderately apomorphic; not as little-developed as in barbs or in Epalzeorhynchos, but neither as extensive as in, for example, Garra or Ptychidio.Stiassny, M. L. and A. Getahun. (2007). [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2007.00281.x/abstract?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false An overview of labeonin relationships and the phylogenetic placement of the Afro-Asian genus Garra Hamilton, 1922 (Teleostei: Cyprinidae), with the description of five new species of Garra from Ethiopia, and a key to all African species.] Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 150(1), 41–83. The genus name Labeo is Latin for "one who has large lips".{{cite web | url = https://etyfish.org/labeoninae/ | title = Family CYPRINIDAE: Subfamily LABEONINAE Bleeker 1859 (Labeos) | access-date = 24 September 2023 | author1 = Christopher Scharpf | author2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | name-list-style = amp | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara | date = 7 September 2023}}

Labeos have the two barbels on the rostrum which are common among the Cyprinidae, and also another pair of barbels at the rear edges of the lower maxilla, which has been lost in some of their relatives. They have a well-developed vomeropalatine organ. In the Weberian apparatus, the posterior supraneural bone is elongated and contacts the skull at the forward end.