Journey to west coast of Peninsular Malaysia

[kuching]

This is another great journey to search & photograph (& collecting) some rare & beautiful aquatic flora & fauna in Peninsular Malaysia. And this is the last fishing trip in year 2006.

In this trip :

1) I found Paedocypris sp. in the peat swamp of Selangor!!!! This is one of the smallest fishes in the world!!!

See pix below:



2) I was lucky to visit some Cryptocoryne sites in Selangor area where the water level is not so high (no flooding in Selangor). One species is most probably a new species & another species is unidentified.


3) I managed to find some highland species of pitcher plants which I never seen before in the summit area of Gunung Ulu Kali.


More stories & photos will be posted in the forum soon. The heavy rainfall in Sarawak had caused my flight delayed ...& I just arrived at Kuching airport at 12am!!! I need to sleep now.

[kuching]

During the dry season of 2006, a group of orang asli (indigenous people) went for fishing in a secret paradise in the central part of lowland forest of Peninsular Malaysia. One of the them found this unidentified species of aquatic plant. He has seen Cryptocoryne before when he was working for a government department. So, he told the news to the people in the department & herman from national zoo of M'sia came to investigate.

Some people think that it is a rare variety of Crypt. minima which got very white spathe with tiny red dots but some researchers think that it is most probably a new species !!!!

A natural pond in the jungle of Peninsular Malaysia:





Collecting fish:





Halfbeak; most of the fish here are very common fish such as Rasbora sumatrana, Betta pugnax, Puntius binotatus....etc.

[kuching]

The Crypt & Barclaya growing abundantly on the right side of this sandy stream:





Crypt. cf minima - red form (submerged in the water):




Crypt. cf minima - green form (submerged in the water):







The spathe (flower) of Crypt cf minima:

[kuching]

The green form (left) and ref form (right). Both are same species but according to Herman observation, the green form is infertile plant, which mean it does not flower. Herman told me he even found a red colored spathe in the red form. More research will be carried out to get to know more of this species.




Barclaya motleyi in this spot is purple-dark green colored.





Terrestrial orchid, Plocoglottis acuminata:





The white-flowered shrub is probably either a species of Randia or Portorandia (???)

[kuching]

Inflorescence of Crytosperma (aroid):





Oriental whip snake (Ahaetulla prasina)





A temporary hut (empty) built by orang asli:

[kuching]

Sonerilla sp.





Schismatoglottis (aroid), probably either S. calyptrata or S. motleyana:

[kuching]

On the second day of my journey to west coast of Peninsular M'sia, I decided to go to search for highland species of pitcher plants in Banjaran Titiwangsa (Titiwangsa Range).

As I forgot to bring my reference books, I found problem to identify the 3 different species of pitcher plants I never seen before : Nepenthes sanguinea, Nepenthes ramispina & Nepenthes macfarlanei.


**Please let me if i wrongly identified the pitcher plants below:


December 22, 2006. It was a cloudy day. Surprisingly, there was not much rainfall in central part of Peninsular Malaysia. (Southern part was badly hit by the flood & heavy rainfall)


The buffalo. The background is the mountain range called " Banjaran Titiwangsa".






A tributary of Sungai Batang Kali.





Searching for pitcher plants on the slope of the hill near the road to the summit of Gunung Ulu Kali. (altitute: around 1,000 feet)

[kuching]

Found Nepenthes sanguinea growing in the shady place on the slope of the hill:





The red coloured pitcher of Nepenthes sanguinea. This is my very first time to see this species !!!! Wow!!!! So handsome!!!





N. sanguinea.





First time found N. mirabilis which got very long pitcher :

[kuching]

Atitude in between 2,000 feet to 3,000 feet. I found N. sanguinea again:




Inflorescence of N. sanguinea :





Pitcher of N. sanguinea:





Montane forest of Gunung Ulu Kali:

[kuching]

Pix below: I was searching for pitcher plants in the misty montane forest of Gunung Ulu Kali. (Temperature : 18 degree Celcius)





Found N. ramispina :







Green coloured pitcher of N. ramispina:






Is this N. macfarlanei ???

[kuching]

Another variety of Bamboo orchid, Arudina graminifolia




Rhododendron sp.






Unidentified species:

[kuching]

Day 3 - rest day, shopping @ Damansara.




Day 4 - Visiting the peat swamp & nearby areas in northern Selangor.

Sungai Bernam:






Hampala macrolepidota, a species of predatory fish:

[kuching]

A blackwater peat swamp in northern Selangor:




The fishes caught in the peat swamp:

Puntius hexazona





Betta hipposideros






Rasbora kalochroma





Betta livida







Mystus bimaculatus

[kuching]

Swamp eel (not snake), Monopterus albus.





Neohomaloptera johorensis.





Parosphromenus harveyi






Channa bankanensis.

[kuching]

Dzul is collecting fish:




Paedocypris sp.






Paedocypris sp. in its natural habitat:




Paedocypris sp. swimming in school:

[budak]

Your puntius could be hexazona or juvenile of another species... one of your nicest trips!

[hwchoy]

looks like the hexazona, juveniles of the striped barbs don't quite have that "curve" in the bars.

[ranmasatome]

Thats a GREAT trip and wonderful pictures!!! i love that swamp eel.. so cute

[kuching]

It is P. hexazona caused I had collected juvenile of p. haxazona before.

Second last location: Found green Barclaya motleyi in a jungle stream:






Last location in day 4 - a forest stream; found an unidentified species of Cryptocoryne!!!





Close-up of unidentified species of Crypt.:

[TS168]

Hi Michael, this Paedocypris sp. has color? it seen that it show abit reddish in the pic.
I not sure if i have seen it at EC sometime back it show no color but transparent.