The fauna of Burundi remains rich and varied because of the diversity of biotopes. It is composed of relatively well known vertebrates and very poorly studied invertebrates. Vertebrates include mammals, birds, reptiles, reptiles, amphibians, and fish with around 1202 species.

Fish form a very rich and varied group in view of the richness of aquatic biotopes made up of numerous lakes and rivers. The current count gives 215 species already known, including 138 encountered in the Burundian part of Lake Tanganyika. Many authors believe that Lake Tanganyika has the highest biological diversity in the world for a freshwater body.

Endemicity is very pronounced in Lake Tanganyika. The number of endemic fish is estimated at 201 throughout Lake Tanganyika. The Cichlidae family is the most widely represented with 170 species.

This document gives a list of fish species in Burundi that are unfortunately limited to fish from Lake Tanganyika and the Ruvubu River in the Ruvubu National Park (Table 1).

We hope that this list will soon be enriched with fish species from other aquatic environments (Northern Lakes, Rusizi River, Malagarazi River, etc.).