The muscle tissues of Channa punctatus and Anabas testudineus collected from the Loktak Lake (a Ramsar site) and its three major feeder rivers in Manipur, Northeastern India, were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography for the presence of residues of or-ganophosphorus, carbamate, and synthetic pyrethroid pesticides. Pesticide residues of all the three typeswere detected in the fish tissues. Pesticide residues in Channa punctatus ranged from 0.002–0.043 µg g-1, and from 0.008–0.027 µg g-1 in Anabas testudineus from Loktak Lake in pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. Pesticide residues were detected only in Anabas testudineus (0.002–0.078 µg g-1) in Nambul River, while these were detected only in Channa puctatus (0.001–0.032 µg g-1) in Moirang River. In Nambol River, pesticide concentrations ranged from 0.002–0.026 µg g-1 in Channa punctatus, and from 0.004–0.005 µg g-1 in Anabas testudineus. Among the five pesticides detected, concentrations of dichlorvos residues detect-ed in the present study (0.027 and 0.032 µg g-1 wet weight) exceeded the Codex Alimentarius maximum residue limit (MRL) of 0.01 mg kg-1 for animal tissues. The rest of the compounds were within the MRL. None of the pesticide residues was detected in the two fish species col-lected from the control or reference site. The present study indicates that pesticide contamina-tion is emerging as a threat to the water quality and aquatic biodiversity of Loktak Lake, which calls for more detailed studies on the extent and magnitude of these threats.