Only about 3% of the entire Earth’s water is freshwater, and only another 0.014% can support life. This 0.014% – consisting of creeks, lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams – is home to a wide variety of diverse species. The creatures living in freshwater habitats include not only various species of fish but also alligators, river dolphins, ducks, dragonflies, and manatees.
List of Animals that live in Fresh Water
Mammals
- Amazon River Dolphin
- Amazonian Manatee
- Asian Small-clawed Otter
- Bola Batu Babirusa
- Buru Babirusa
- Capybara
- Chacma Baboon
- Clouded Leopard
- Coati
- Common Raccoon Dog
- Coypu
- Dugong
- Eastern Water Bat
- Eurasian Beaver
- Fishing Cat
- Flat-headed Cat
- Guinea Baboon
- Hamadryas Baboon
- Hippopotamus
- Irrawaddy River Dolphin
- Jaguar
- Jaguarundi
- Kinda Baboon
- North American Beaver
- North American River Otter
- North Sulawesi Babirusa
- Olive Baboon
- Tapir
- Togian Babirusa
- Water Deer
- Water Vole
- Yangtze Finless Porpoise
- Yellow Baboon
Birds
- African Black Duck
- American Avocet
- American Bittern
- American Black Duck
- American Coot
- American Dipper
- American Flamingo
- American White Pelican
- American White-winged Scoter
- American Wigeon
- Andean Avocet
- Andean Coot
- Andean Flamingo
- Andean Teal
- Auckland Islands Teal
- Australian Pelican
- Azure Kingfisher
- Baikal Teal
- Bald Eagle
- Barrow’s Goldeneye
- Black Scoter
- Black-headed Duck
- Brown Dipper
- Brown Pelican
- Campbell Islands Teal
- Canvasback
- Cape Shoveler
- Cattle Egret
- Chilean Flamingo
- Cinnamon Teal
- Comb Duck
- Common Kingfisher
- Common Scoter
- Common Shelduck
- Common Teal
- Crested Duck
- Crested Shelduck
- Eaton’s Pintail
- Egyptian Goose
- Eurasian Bittern
- Eurasian Spoonbill
- Eurasian Wigeon
- Falcated Duck
- Falkland Steamerduck
- Ferruginous Duck
- Fish Crow
- Franklin’s Gull
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Crested Grebe
- Great Egret
- Great White Pelican
- Greater Flamingo
- Grey Teal
- Hardhead
- Harlequin Duck
- Hawaiian Duck
- Horned Coot
- Hottentot Teal
- James’ Flamingo
- Kelp Goose
- Kestrel
- King Eider
- Lake Duck
- Laysan Duck
- Least Bittern
- Lesser Flamingo
- Lesser Scaup
- Little Egret
- Maccoa Duck
- Madagascar Pochard
- Madagascar Teal
- Mallard
- Mandarin Duck
- Marbled Teal
- Masked Duck
- Meller’s Duck
- Montagu’s Harrier
- Mottled Duck
- Muscovy Duck
- Musk Duck
- New Zealand Scaup
- Northern Harrier
- Northern Jacana
- Northern Pintail
- Northern Shoveler
- Orange-billed Flowerpecker
- Orinoco Goose
- Osprey
- Pale-billed Flowerpecker
- Pied Avocet
- Puna Teal
- Radjah Shelduck
- Red Shoveler
- Red-knobbed Coot
- Red-necked Avocet
- Ringed Teal
- Roseate Spoonbill
- Royal Spoonbill
- Rufous-throated Dipper
- Salvadori’s Teal
- Sandhill Crane
- Schrenck’s Bittern
- Semipalmated Sandpiper
- Shoebill
- Snowy Egret
- Spectacled Duck
- Spot-billed Pelican
- Thick-billed Flowerpecker
- Tyrant Flycatcher
- Wakatobi Flowerpecker
- Wattled Jacana
- Western Marsh Harrier
- White-capped Dipper
- White-throated Dipper
- Yellow-breasted Flowerpecker
Reptiles
- American Alligator
- American Crocodile
- Aquatic Garter Snake
- Borneo Crocodile
- Broad-snouted Caiman
- Central African Slender-snouted Crocodile
- Common Basilisk
- Common Watersnake
- Cottonmouth Snake
- Cuban Crocodile
- Dwarf Crocodile
- Freshwater Crocodile
- Grass Snake
- Green Anaconda
- Hall’s New Guinea Crocodile
- Morelet’s Crocodile
- Mugger Crocodile
- New Guinea Crocodile
- Nile Crocodile
- Orinoco Crocodile
- Osborn’s Dwarf Crocodile
- Philippine Crocodile
- Siamese Crocodile
- Spectacled Caiman
- West African Crocodile
- West African Slender-snouted Crocodile
- Yacare Caiman
Amphibians
Invertebrates
- Clubtailed Dragonfly
- Crane Fly
- Depressed River Mussel
- Fairy Shrimp
- Fiddler Crab
- Flowerhat Jelly
- Freshwater Pearl Mussel
- Glutinous Snail
- Lesser Water Boatman
- Medicinal Leech
- Murray Crayfish
- New Zealand Mud Snail
- Pondweed Leafhopper
- Striped Mayfly
- Tadpole Shrimp
- Tasmanian Giant Freshwater Crayfish
- Variable Damselfly
Fish
- Alligator Gar
- American Eel
- Amur Bitterling
- Asian Arowana
- Banded Archerfish
- Beluga Sturgeon
- Big Scale Archerfish
- Black Arowana
- Black Bullhead Catfish
- Borneo Betta
- Catla Carp
- Climbing Perch
- Common Archerfish
- Common Carp
- Common Freshwater Angelfish
- Cuban Gar
- Electric Eel
- European Bitterling
- European Eel
- European Eel
- European River Lamprey
- Florida Gar
- Ganges Shark
- Giant Freshwater Stingray
- Jardini Arowana
- Khanka Spiny Bitterling
- Kimberley Archerfish
- Lake Trout
- Largemouth Bass
- Longnose Gar
- Mud Carp
- New Zealand Longfin Eel
- Northern Pike
- Northern River Shark
- Primitive Archerfish
- Red-bellied Piranha
- Saratoga
- Scripted Arowana
- Shortnose Gar
- Silver Arowana
- Silver Carp
- Smallscale Archerfish
- Speartooth Shark
- Spotted Betta
- Spotted Gar
- Tropical Gar
- Western River Lamprey
- White Sturgeon
- X-ray Tetra
- Zebra Archerfish
FAQs
1. Can saltwater animals live in freshwater biomes? Saltwater fish cannot live in freshwater because their bodies are adapted to living in a saline environment. In freshwater, too much water would flow into them until all their cells bloat, leading to their eventual death.
2. Are crocodiles freshwater or saltwater animals? Crocodiles can survive in both freshwater and saltwater habitats.
