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: ActinopterygiiFreshwater 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: AnguillidaeThere are 19 species and 6 subspecies in this family are all in genus Anguilla. Sri Lanka is home for 2 freshwater eels.
| Name | Binomial | Status |
| Mottled Eel | Anguilla nebulosa | |
| Shortfin Eel | Anguilla 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.
| Common name | Binomial | Status |
| Attentive carplet | Amblypharyngodon melettinus | |
| Sinhala barb | Dawkinsia singhala | endemic |
| Blotched filamentous barb | Dawkinsia srilankensis | endemic |
| Giant danio | Devario aequipinnatus | |
| Devario annnataliae | problematic taxon | |
| Malabar danio | Devario malabaricus | |
| Devario micronema | problematic taxon | |
| Devario monticola | problematic taxon | |
| Barred danio | Devario pathirana | |
| Devario udenii | problematic taxon | |
| Indian flying barb | Esomus danrica | |
| Flying barb | Esomus thermoicos | |
| Ceylon Logsucker | Garra ceylonensis | endemic |
| Philipps' Garra | Garra phillipsi | endemic |
| Glow-light Carplet | Horadandia atukorali | |
| Labeo heladiva | endemic | |
| Green labeo | Labeo fisheri | endemic |
| Red fin labeo | Labeo lankae | endemic |
| Knuckles Laubuca | Laubuca insularis | endemic |
| Blue Laubuca | Laubuca lankensis | endemic |
| Ruhuna Laubuca | Laubuca ruhuna | endemic |
| Varuna Laubuca | Laubuca varuna | endemic |
| Scarlet banded barb | Puntius amphibius | |
| Red-side barb | Puntius bimaculatus | |
| Swamp barb | Puntius chola | |
| Long-snouted barb | Puntius dorsalis | |
| Kamalika's barb | Puntius kamalika | endemic |
| Kelum's barb | Puntius kelumi | endemic |
| Cherry barb | Puntius titteya | endemic |
| Greenstripe barb | Puntius vitattus | |
| Bandula barb | Pethia bandula | endemic |
| Two-spot barb | Pethia cumingii | endemic |
| Tic-tac-toe Barb | Pethia melanomaculata | endemic |
| Black ruby barb | Pethia nigrofasciata | endemic |
| Red-fined Barb | Pethia reval | endemic |
| Stoliczkae's barb | Pethia stoliczkana | |
| Ticto barb | Pethia ticto | |
| Amith's rasbora | Rasbora armitagei | endemic |
| Cauvery rasbora | Rasbora caverii | |
| Slender rasbora | Rasbora daniconius | endemic |
| Wilpita rasbora | Rasbora wilpita | endemic |
| Rasboroides nigromarginatus | endemic | |
| Rasboroides pallidus | endemic | |
| Rasboroides rohani | endemic | |
| Pearly Rasbora | Rasboroides vaterifloris | endemic |
| Asoka barb | Systomus asoka | endemic |
| Martenstyn's barb | Systomus martenstyni | endemic |
| Side-striped barb | Systomus pleurotaenia | endemic |
| Olive barb | Systomus sarana | |
| Systomus spilurus | endemic | |
| Timbiri Barb | Systomus timbiri | endemic |
| Deccan Mahseer | Tor khudree |
River loaches
Family: Balitoridae| Common name | Binomial | Status |
| Banded Mountain Loach | Acanthocobitis urophthalma | endemic |
| Hill country Loach | Schistura madhavai | endemic |
| Spotback Loach | Schistura notostigma | native |
| Schistura scripta | endemic |
True Loaches
Family: Cobitidae| Common name | Binomial | Status |
| Spotted loach | Lepidocephalichthys jonklaasi | endemic |
| Common spiny loach | Lepidocephalichthys thermalis |
Naked catfishes
Order: Siluriformes. Family: Bagridae| Name | Binomial | Status |
| Dwarf catfish | Mystus ankutta | endemic |
| Gangetic mystus | Mystus cavasius | |
| Long Whiskers catfish | Mystus gulio | |
| Yellow catfish | Mystus keletius | |
| Striped dwarf catfish | Mystus vittatus |
Sheat catfishes
Family: Siluridae| Name | Binomial | Status |
| Ompok argestes | Endemic | |
| Butter catfish | Ompok bimaculatus | |
| Ompok ceylonensis | Endemic | |
| Wallago | Wallago attu |
Airbreathing catfishes
Family: Clariidae| Name | Binomial | Status |
| Walking catfish | Clarias brachysoma | endemic |
Airsac catfishes
Family: Heteropneustidae| Name | Binomial | Status |
| Asian stinging catfish | Heteropneustes fossilis |
Swamp eels
Order: Synbranchiformes. Family: Synbranchidae| Name | Binomial | Status |
| Lesser swamp eel | Monopterus desilvai | |
| Bengal swamp eel | Ophisternon bengalense |
Rivulines
Order: Cyprinodontiformes. Family: Aplocheilidae| Name | Binomial | Status |
| Ceylon killifish | Aplocheilus dayi | endemic |
| Dwarf panchax | Aplocheilus parvus | |
| Werners killifish | Aplocheilus werneri | endemic |
Ricefish
Family: Adrianichthyidae| Name | Binomial | Status |
| Spotted ricefish | Oryzias carnaticus | |
| Indian ricefish | Oryzias dancena |
Cichlids
Order: Perciformes. Family: Cichlidae| Name | Binomial | Status |
| Orange chromide | Etroplus maculatus | |
| Green chromide | Etroplus suratensis |
Climbing perches
Family: Anabantidae| Name | Binomial | Status |
| Climbing perch | Anabas testudineus |
Gourami
Family: Osphronemidae| Name | Binomial | Status |
| Ceylonese combtail | Belontia signata | endemic |
| Ornate parasidefish | Malpulutta kretseri | endemic |
| Spike-tailed paradisefish | Pseudosphromenus cupanus |
Snakeheads
Family: Channidae| Name | Binomial | Status |
| Giant snakehead | Channa marulius | |
| Dwarf snakehead | Channa gachua | |
| Ceylon snakehead | Channa orientalis | endemic |
| Spotted snakehead | Channa punctata | |
| Striped snakehead | Channa striata | |
| Channa kelaartii |
Garfishes
Family: Belonidae| Name | Binomial | Status |
| Freshwater garfish | Xenentodon cancila |
Sleeper gobies
Family: Eleotridae| Name | Binomial | Status |
| Crazyfish | Butis butis | |
| Dusky sleeper | Eleotris fusca |
Spiny eels
Family: Mastacembelidae| Name | Binomial | Status |
| Tire track eel | Mastacembelus armatus | |
| Sri Lanka spiny eel | Macrognathus pentophthalmos |
Gobies
Family: Gobiidae| Name | Binomial | Status |
| Large snout goby | Awaous melanocephalus | |
| Tank goby | Glossogobius giuris | |
| Sharptail goby | Oligolepis acutipennis | |
| Red neck goby | Schismatogobius deraniyagalai | |
| Stone goby | Sicyopterus griseus | |
| Redtail goby | Sicyopterus lagocephalus | |
| Lipstick goby | Sicyopus jonklaasi | endemic |
| Martenstyn's goby | Stiphodon martenstyni | endemic |