List of freshwater fish of Sri Lanka explained

Sri Lanka is a tropical island situated close to the southern tip of India. It is situated in the middle of Indian Ocean. Because of being an island, Sri Lanka has many endemic freshwater fauna, including fish, crabs, molluscs, and other aquatic insects.

Species List

Class: Actinopterygii

Freshwater fish are physiologically differ from marine and brackish water forms. The low salinity and high osmotic pressure makes them so different. Few fish can be found in all three ecological systems.

There are 95 species of freshwater fish occur in the country, where 53 of those are endemic. 41% of all known species of fish of Sri Lanka are found in freshwater. There are about 70% of endemism of those fish. Most of them are listed into IUCN categories. Four Devario species were described in 2017 by Batuwita et al. However, the taxonomy and descriptions were cited as problematic by fellow local ichthyologists.[1]

Note: introduced species are not included in the list. Go to List of introduced fish in Sri Lanka.

Freshwater eels

Order: Anguilliformes. Family: Anguillidae

There are 19 species and 6 subspecies in this family are all in genus Anguilla. Sri Lanka is home for 2 freshwater eels.

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Mottled EelAnguilla nebulosa
Shortfin EelAnguilla bicolor

Carps and allies

Order: Cypriniformes. Family: CyprinidaeAbout over 320 genera, and more than 3,250 species are included in this family. 52 species found in Sri Lanka.

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Attentive carpletAmblypharyngodon melettinus
Sinhala barbDawkinsia singhalaendemic
Blotched filamentous barbDawkinsia srilankensisendemic
Giant danioDevario aequipinnatus
Devario annnataliaeproblematic taxon
Malabar danioDevario malabaricus
Devario micronemaproblematic taxon
Devario monticolaproblematic taxon
Barred danioDevario pathirana
Devario udeniiproblematic taxon
Indian flying barbEsomus danrica
Flying barbEsomus thermoicos
Ceylon LogsuckerGarra ceylonensisendemic
Philipps' GarraGarra phillipsiendemic
Glow-light CarpletHoradandia atukorali
Labeo heladivaendemic
Green labeoLabeo fisheriendemic
Red fin labeoLabeo lankaeendemic
Knuckles LaubucaLaubuca insularisendemic
Blue LaubucaLaubuca lankensisendemic
Ruhuna LaubucaLaubuca ruhunaendemic
Varuna LaubucaLaubuca varunaendemic
Scarlet banded barbPuntius amphibius
Red-side barbPuntius bimaculatus
Swamp barbPuntius chola
Long-snouted barbPuntius dorsalis
Kamalika's barbPuntius kamalikaendemic
Kelum's barbPuntius kelumiendemic
Cherry barbPuntius titteyaendemic
Greenstripe barbPuntius vitattus
Bandula barbPethia bandulaendemic
Two-spot barbPethia cumingiiendemic
Tic-tac-toe BarbPethia melanomaculataendemic
Black ruby barbPethia nigrofasciataendemic
Red-fined BarbPethia revalendemic
Stoliczkae's barbPethia stoliczkana
Ticto barbPethia ticto
Amith's rasboraRasbora armitageiendemic
Cauvery rasboraRasbora caverii
Slender rasboraRasbora daniconiusendemic
Wilpita rasboraRasbora wilpitaendemic
Rasboroides nigromarginatusendemic
Rasboroides pallidusendemic
Rasboroides rohaniendemic
Pearly RasboraRasboroides vateriflorisendemic
Asoka barbSystomus asokaendemic
Martenstyn's barbSystomus martenstyniendemic
Side-striped barbSystomus pleurotaeniaendemic
Olive barbSystomus sarana
Systomus spilurusendemic
Timbiri BarbSystomus timbiriendemic
Deccan MahseerTor khudree

River loaches

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Banded Mountain LoachAcanthocobitis urophthalmaendemic
Hill country LoachSchistura madhavaiendemic
Spotback LoachSchistura notostigmanative
Schistura scriptaendemic

True Loaches

Family: Cobitidae

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Spotted loachLepidocephalichthys jonklaasiendemic
Common spiny loachLepidocephalichthys thermalis

Naked catfishes

Order: Siluriformes. Family: Bagridae

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Dwarf catfishMystus ankuttaendemic
Gangetic mystusMystus cavasius
Long Whiskers catfishMystus gulio
Yellow catfishMystus keletius
Striped dwarf catfishMystus vittatus

Sheat catfishes

Family: Siluridae

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Ompok argestesEndemic
Butter catfishOmpok bimaculatus
Ompok ceylonensisEndemic
WallagoWallago attu

Airbreathing catfishes

Family: Clariidae

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Walking catfishClarias brachysomaendemic

Airsac catfishes

Family: Heteropneustidae

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Asian stinging catfishHeteropneustes fossilis

Swamp eels

Order: Synbranchiformes. Family: Synbranchidae

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Lesser swamp eelMonopterus desilvai
Bengal swamp eelOphisternon bengalense

Rivulines

Order: Cyprinodontiformes. Family: Aplocheilidae

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Ceylon killifishAplocheilus dayiendemic
Dwarf panchaxAplocheilus parvus
Werners killifishAplocheilus werneriendemic

Ricefish

Family: Adrianichthyidae

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Spotted ricefishOryzias carnaticus
Indian ricefishOryzias dancena

Cichlids

Order: Perciformes. Family: Cichlidae

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Orange chromideEtroplus maculatus
Green chromideEtroplus suratensis

Climbing perches

Family: Anabantidae

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Climbing perchAnabas testudineus

Gourami

Family: Osphronemidae

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Ceylonese combtailBelontia signataendemic
Ornate parasidefishMalpulutta kretseriendemic
Spike-tailed paradisefishPseudosphromenus cupanus

Snakeheads

Family: Channidae

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Giant snakeheadChanna marulius
Dwarf snakeheadChanna gachua
Ceylon snakeheadChanna orientalisendemic
Spotted snakeheadChanna punctata
Striped snakeheadChanna striata
Channa kelaartii

Garfishes

Family: Belonidae

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Freshwater garfishXenentodon cancila

Sleeper gobies

Family: Eleotridae

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CrazyfishButis butis
Dusky sleeperEleotris fusca

Spiny eels

Family: Mastacembelidae

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Tire track eelMastacembelus armatus
Sri Lanka spiny eelMacrognathus pentophthalmos

Gobies

Family: Gobiidae

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Large snout gobyAwaous melanocephalus
Tank gobyGlossogobius giuris
Sharptail gobyOligolepis acutipennis
Red neck gobySchismatogobius deraniyagalai
Stone gobySicyopterus griseus
Redtail gobySicyopterus lagocephalus
Lipstick gobySicyopus jonklaasiendemic
Martenstyn's gobyStiphodon martenstyniendemic

References

  1. A commentary on the taxonomic review of Sri Lankan Devario by Batuwita et al. 2017 (Teleostei: Danionidae). 2019 . biotaxa. 10.11646/zootaxa.4543.3.7 . 28 February 2019 . Sudasinghe . Hiranya . Pethiyagoda . Rohan . Zootaxa . 4543 . 3 .

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