Mr Whiskers has lost them

[Gavin Hoe-Richardson]

Just sorting through some of my summer photos and noticed this odd looking barbel with just a couple of whiskers and a strange nose. Anyone know what's caused this?

The river I caught it from hardly sees an angler from one day to the next so I doubt it was hook damaged as a tiddler.

 

[Nigel Gray]

I can see three out of the four normal barbels in that picture Gavin. The two on the side face on to the camera are both there but are adhering to the main body if you look closely, and one is clearly hanging down from the other side.

I've highlighted two of them in red below:-