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| Wildlife of Sri Lanka |
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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.
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 .
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.
| Name | Binomial | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Mottled Eel | Anguilla nebulosa | |
| Shortfin Eel | Anguilla bicolor |
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.
| 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 |
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 |
Family: Cobitidae
| Common name | Binomial | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Spotted loach | Lepidocephalichthys jonklaasi | endemic |
| Common spiny loach | Lepidocephalichthys thermalis |
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 |
Family: Siluridae
| Name | Binomial | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Ompok argestes | Endemic | |
| Butter catfish | Ompok bimaculatus | |
| Ompok ceylonensis | Endemic | |
| Wallago | Wallago attu |
Family: Clariidae
| Name | Binomial | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Walking catfish | Clarias brachysoma | endemic |
Family: Heteropneustidae
| Name | Binomial | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Asian stinging catfish | Heteropneustes fossilis |
Order: Synbranchiformes. Family: Synbranchidae
| Name | Binomial | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Lesser swamp eel | Monopterus desilvai | |
| Bengal swamp eel | Ophisternon bengalense |
Order: Cyprinodontiformes. Family: Aplocheilidae
| Name | Binomial | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Ceylon killifish | Aplocheilus dayi | endemic |
| Dwarf panchax | Aplocheilus parvus | |
| Werners killifish | Aplocheilus werneri | endemic |
Family: Adrianichthyidae
| Name | Binomial | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Spotted ricefish | Oryzias carnaticus | |
| Indian ricefish | Oryzias dancena |
Order: Perciformes. Family: Cichlidae
| Name | Binomial | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Orange chromide | Etroplus maculatus | |
| Green chromide | Etroplus suratensis |
Family: Anabantidae
| Name | Binomial | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Climbing perch | Anabas testudineus |
Family: Osphronemidae
| Name | Binomial | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Ceylonese combtail | Belontia signata | endemic |
| Ornate parasidefish | Malpulutta kretseri | endemic |
| Spike-tailed paradisefish | Pseudosphromenus cupanus |
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 [ citation needed ] |
Family: Belonidae
| Name | Binomial | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Freshwater garfish | Xenentodon cancila |
Family: Eleotridae
| Name | Binomial | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Crazyfish | Butis butis | |
| Dusky sleeper | Eleotris fusca |
Family: Mastacembelidae
| Name | Binomial | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Tire track eel | Mastacembelus armatus | |
| Sri Lanka spiny eel | Macrognathus pentophthalmos |
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 |
The Malabar danio is a tropical fish belonging to the minnow family (Cyprinidae). Originating in Sri Lanka and the west coast of India, the fish has been circulated throughout the world through the aquarium fish trade. It grows to a maximum length of 6 in (15 cm) rarely exceeds 4 in (10 cm) in a home aquarium.
Wildlife of Sri Lanka includes its flora and fauna and their natural habitats. Sri Lanka has one of the highest rates of biological endemism in the world.
Southwestern Sri Lanka rivers and streams is a freshwater ecoregion in Sri Lanka. The ecoregion is listed in Global 200, a list of ecoregions compiled by the World Wide Fund for Nature for conservation priorities. The extensive network of rivers and streams of Sri Lanka drains a total of 103 distinct natural river basins. Several waterfall habitats have been formed as a result of rivers and streams flowing through high and mid elevation areas. The ecoregion spreads over 15,500 km2 in the wet zone of the southwestern part of Sri Lanka. More than a quarter of the freshwater fishes that have been discovered in Southwestern Sri Lanka rivers and streams are endemic. Nine endemic genera of freshwater fishes of Western Ghats and Sri Lanka hotspot Malpulutta are found only in Sri Lanka. Studies suggest that the number of species still to be discovered is quite high. Until recently wetlands in Sri Lanka were used for drainage, construction sites and land fills.
The Sri Lanka lowland rain forests represents Sri Lanka's Tropical rainforests below 1,000 m (3,281 ft) in elevation in the southwestern part of the island. The year-around warm, wet climate together with thousands years of isolation from mainland India have resulted in the evolution of numerous plants and animal species that can only be found in rain forests in Sri Lanka. The thick forest canopy is made up of over 150 species of trees, some of the emergent layer reaching as high as 45 m (148 ft). The lowland rain forests accounts for 2.14 percent of Sri Lanka's land area. This ecoregion is the home of the jungle shrew, a small endemic mammal of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has the highest density of amphibian species worldwide. Many of these, including 250 species of tree frogs, live in these rain forests.
Rasboroides is a genus of small cyprinid fishes endemic to Sri Lanka. They are found in small, slow-flowing and shaded streams in the southwestern part of the island. They are essentially restricted to lowlands, although one introduced population occurs at an altitude of 980 m (3,220 ft). They are calm, social and attractively colored fish that sometimes are kept in aquariums.
Rohan David Pethiyagoda, is one of Sri Lanka's leading naturalists and a taxonomist on Freshwater fish of Sri Lanka.
Rasboroides nigromarginatus is a species of freshwater cyprinid fish endemic to Sri Lanka where only known from small, shaded streams in the Atweltota region of the Kalu River basin. It can also be found in the aquarium trade.
Rasboroides pallidus is a species of freshwater cyprinid fish endemic to southwestern Sri Lanka. It is only known from shallow, slow-flowing streams in the basins of the Kalu River, Bentara River, Gin River, Polathu-Modera River and Nilwala River. It has been introduced to the Mahaweli and Walawe River basins, and is overall less threatened than the related R. vaterifloris.
Rasboroides rohani, is a species of freshwater cyprinid fish endemic to Sri Lanka where only known from shallow, slow-flowing, shady streams near Suriyakanda in the Walawe River basin. It was scientifically described in 2013, but a comprehensive review in 2018 based on morphometry, meristics and mtDNA disputed its validity, showing that it is a junior synonym of R. pallidus. The occurrence of R. pallidus in the Walawe River basin is not natural, but the result of translocations.
Devario micronema, is a fish belonging to the minnow family (Cyprinidae). It is endemic to Sri Lanka. However, the validity of the species description was noted problematic by several other local ichthyologists.
The Devario annnataliae, is a fish belonging to the minnow family (Cyprinidae). It is endemic to Sri Lanka. However, the validity of the species description was noted problematic by several other local ichthyologists.
The Devario monticola, is a fish belonging to the minnow family (Cyprinidae). It is endemic to Sri Lanka. However, the validity of the species description was noted problematic by several other local ichthyologists.
Devario udenii, is a fish belonging to the minnow family (Cyprinidae). It is endemic to Sri Lanka. However, the validity of the species description was noted problematic by several other local ichthyologists.
