List of freshwater fish of Sri Lanka

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.

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.

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

River loaches
Family: Balitoridae

True Loaches
Family: Cobitidae

Naked catfishes
Order: Siluriformes. Family: Bagridae

Sheat catfishes
Family: Siluridae

Airbreathing catfishes
Family: Clariidae

Airsac catfishes
Family: Heteropneustidae

Swamp eels
Order: Synbranchiformes. Family: Synbranchidae

Rivulines
Order: Cyprinodontiformes. Family: Aplocheilidae

Ricefish
Family: Adrianichthyidae

Cichlids
Order: Perciformes. Family: Cichlidae

Climbing perches
Family: Anabantidae

Gourami
Family: Osphronemidae

Snakeheads
Family: Channidae

Garfishes
Family: Belonidae

Sleeper gobies
Family: Eleotridae

Spiny eels
Family: Mastacembelidae

Gobies
Family: Gobiidae