The aquatic plants & orchids of Seri Aman

[kuching]

Last Sunday (July 22, 2007) was a cloudy day. The weather in Borneo has changed. The global warming has caused the unusual weather pattern in Borneo & the rest of the world. Over here, there is so much rainfall in the dry season. 2007 is a bad year for fishing because the water level of most rivers are very high.

Nasir & Tuck Fai were following me to explore a remote area of Seri Aman. Most of the big rivers here are full of water, so we searched for smaller streams to look for fish or water plants.

The first location is a small blackwater stream which i visited before. There is a species of peachpuff or papayawhip coloured
algae-eating shrimp living here. I collected some for my aquarium together with a clump of Najas sp. Here also got Blyxa sp. but I didn't collect it as this species is very hard to keep in my aquarium.


The gravel road in the remote area of Seri Aman.






The blackwater stream.





Blyxa sp. growing abundantly in the stream. (open area)




Najas sp. The shrimps are hiding in this clump of water plant.

[kuching]

Then, suddenly I saw something on a tree branch.....near the bank. Gosh!!! It's an orchid I never seen before! The flower is yellowish coloured with very strange look! The shape is looks like the head of hornbill (bird) !!!! No idea what species of this wild orchid.

The wild orchid with a flower:




The flower is so strange looking!






After collecting the shrimps, we headed east to eat the lunch in a nearby town. After that, we headed south to explore. It's a huge area....& it was started to rain few hours later.


Another blackwater stream. Betta ibanorum was found in the shallow area.





Aquatic aroid, Cryptocoryne longicauda found abundantly here.

[kuching]

The beautiful spathe (flower) of Crypt. longicauda. This species is very common in Sarawak.





Crypt. longicauda in submerged condition:






Oh my gosh!!! Spotted another orchid while photographing the Crypt. It grows so near to the stream on a tree branch. Probably it is Pomatocalpa sp. ???





The beautiful inflorescence of the orchid:

[kuching]

Ant fern. Phymatodes sinuosa ??? The ants are living inside the thick & hollow stems.





Last location before it rained; a clearwater river. The Blyxa found growing in open area:





When I went to the shaded area, I found Crypt. longicauda again:





Crypt. longicauda in emersed condition:





There are still a lot of unexplored areas....but due to heavy rain caused by unusual weather pattern in Borneo, I had to leave. Before going back home, I went to Seri Aman to fill up my petrol tank. Then, we checked this blackwater stream. There was nothing in the water except crocking gourami. The fish population is very small because it is polluted (too near to the town).

Utricularia sp. (aquatic carnivorous plant) is growing abundantly in this blackwater stream:





THE END.

[jwuog]

Hey Kuching, by any chance you have a picture of the "peachpuff or papayawhip coloured algae-eating shrimp?"

I am interested in how it looks like. I like all the freshwater's "little jewels" like brigittae, sundadanio axelrodi, CRS etc.

[kuching]

Hey Kuching, by any chance you have a picture of the "peachpuff or papayawhip coloured algae-eating shrimp?"

I am interested in how it looks like. I like all the freshwater's "little jewels" like brigittae, sundadanio axelrodi, CRS etc.

I didn't take the picture of the shrimp. will take the pix when I'm free.

[benny]

Nice set of pictures! Seri Aman is quite a distance from Kuching isn't it? I vaguely recall making that trip the last time. Perhaps it's time to refresh my memory with another trip.

Cheers,

[kuching]

Nice set of pictures! Seri Aman is quite a distance from Kuching isn't it? I vaguely recall making that trip the last time. Perhaps it's time to refresh my memory with another trip.

Cheers,

Yup...3 hours driving distance!!!

[benny]

Was this the part where I was behind your steering wheel in the night on the way back to kuching?

Cheers,

[kuching]

Was this the part where I was behind your steering wheel in the night on the way back to kuching?

Cheers,

No, I went to the other location....but on the way back to Kuching is still the same way like last time.