Costa Rica
Checklist of Endemic Freshwater Fish Species
This list of freshwater fish species found exclusively in Costa Rica is based on the taxonomy used in FishBase 2004 (2004). For further details on possible inaccuracies in the list see Sources & Caveats.
FishBase 2004: a global information system on fishes. DVD. WorldFish Center - Philippine Office, Los Banos, Philippines. Published in May 2004.
The current version of this electronic database is accessible here.
OC = a FishBase occurrence record suggests a specimen from another country outside normal stated range ( these vary widely in reliability from obvious misidentifications to being almost certainly correct)
Astyanax robustus (Characidae)
Bryconamericus ricae (Characidae)
Bryconamericus terrabensis (Characidae)
Hyphessobrycon savagei (Characidae) Savage Tetra
Pseudocheirodon terrabae (Characidae) Terraba Tetra
Pterobrycon myrnae (Characidae) Semaphore Tetra
Roeboides ilseae (Characidae)
Amphilophus diquis OC (Cichlidae)
Amphilophus rhytisma (Cichlidae) Pearl Cichlid
Archocentrus sajica (Cichlidae) T-Bar Cichlid
Eleotris tubularis (Eleotridae)
Gobiesox fulvus (Gobiesocidae)
Gobiesox potamius OC (Gobiesocidae)
Sicydium adelum (Gobiidae)
Sicydium altum (Gobiidae)
Sicydium cocoensis OC (Gobiidae)
Piabucina boruca (Lebiasinidae) Candela
Brachyrhaphis olomina (Poeciliidae)
Brachyrhaphis parismina (Poeciliidae) Parasimina Bishop
Brachyrhaphis rhabdophora (Poeciliidae) Lace Brachyrhaphis
Phallichthys quadripunctatus (Poeciliidae) Four-spot Widow
Poeciliopsis paucimaculata (Poeciliidae) Small Spot Topminnow
Priapichthys annectens OC (Poeciliidae) Orange Finned Flasher
Rivulus fuscolineatus (Rivulidae) Arenal Rivulus
Rivulus glaucus (Rivulidae) Blue Rivulus
Rivulus rubripunctatus (Rivulidae) Redspotted Rivulus
Rivulus siegfriedi (Rivulidae)
Rivulus uroflammeus (Rivulidae) Flame Rivulus
An additional endemic freshwater fish species described too recently to be included in FishBase 2004 is given below. This list is primarily based on information from the 13 March 2009 version of the Catalog of Fishes database (current version here) and includes species described through 2008. In addition to the 28 endemic freshwater fish species listed above, the additional species listed below gives a total of 29 species of freshwater fishes known solely from Costa Rica.
Poeciliopsis santaelena (Poeciliidae) 2008