Freshwater Fish

Bauchot (1959) lists 8 families occurring in the Lesser Antilles—Poeciliidae, Anguillidae, Gobiidae, Eleotridae, Mugilidae, Gerridae, Centropomodae, and Carangidae—all of which can move between fresh and salt water, and some of which spawn at sea.

The freshwater fish fauna of St. Kitts-Nevis—and the rest of the Lesser Antilles—is not well studied. There are local reports of 9 species for St. Kitts, and about 5 species for Nevis. Though Mountain mullet (Agonostomus monticola) and mudfish (Gobiidae) are cited as occurring in ephemeral pools or streams after prolonged periods of rains (CCA/IRF, 1991), these seem to be very uncommon. Poecelia reticulata can be found in the streams on the southwestern side of St. Kitts. There is a Gambusia species, which was introduced to Dos D'ane Pond by Campbell Evelyn earlier this century. There was some attempt to introduce a trout species to estate ponds, but although they survived for a short time, they are believed to have died out after the divestment of the estates and the subsequent deterioration of the ponds due to lack of maintenance (C. Evelyn, pers. comm.).

Tilapia species (perhaps several) also were introduced to the island (C. Evelyn, pers. comm.), but their current status is not known. Goldfish were introduced by the Water Authority in an attempt to keep the water inlet tanks on estates clean.

Nevis is known to have a Gambusia species, a mudfish (Goebidae) and one or two species of Tilapia (K. Lindsay, pers. comm.). There is mention of Mountain mullets (Smith, 1745), but their current status is not known.
Although the number of native species occurring in the country is low, it is likely that investigations would reveal the presence of several additional exotic species. Collections in Antigua resulted in more than 20 possible species (most of which are probably lesser taxonomic categories, possibly even polymorphic variations). Several of the species are known to have been deliberately introduced for aquaculture, while several others appear to be "aquaria" fish that have been naturalized in ponds and waterways after being discarded (Lindsay and Blackman, 1997).

Biodiversity Implications

For both islands, the major issue affecting the biodiversity of freshwater fish (and invertebrates) is the harvesting of waters in the upper watersheds for domestic use. The waters are not always managed in a way that maintains system integrity by ensuring enough of the supply stays in or returns to the rivers. Priority freshwater sites should be identified, mapped and protected. Such steps would be very valuable for the conservation of many species of birds, as well as freshwater invertebrates and fish.

As this website is very much a work in progress, we welcome any additional materials, photos, corrections or suggestions readers may have.  We also plan on adding a dedicated photo gallery to highlight the "Flora & Fauna of Nevis" in-depth, and readers contributions are welcome!

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