Rethinking the Intermediate Bearing's Barbed Fitting

Here's what Nellie's fitting looked like after it was removed for inspection.

Nellie's Barbed Intermediate Bearing Fitting

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  Well, here's a picture.

Nellie's Barbed Intermediate Bearing Fitting

The fitting crumbled yesterday during reinstallation.  Mike McCoy, Tug E. Bear 37VT62, warned that these fittings might be brittle.  How right he is.  

For the record, the fitting is 3/4" NPT and 3/4" barbed.

It was replaced with a poly fitting of the same dimensions.