This is the first description of the otoliths (sagitta, asteriscus, and lapillus) of the European barbel (Barbus sclateri, Pisces: Cyprinidae), as well as the location, the procedure for extracting them and preparing them for age and growth studies. The otoliths were observed by light and scanning electron microscopy. With this last technique each otolith had a variable external crystalline morphology which may be related to different growth rates of the crystals. When seen through reflected light, the lapillus and the asteriscus showed opaque and translucent radial bands, and those in the lapillus were more clearly defined than in the other otolith.
