ID: Local Panchax - Aplocheilus panchax

[Jungle-mania]

I met a fellow aquarist who happen to have caught this panchax (see pic below) in our local water during his reservist. He found a small school of this panchax in a shrinking pool and decided to catch a few of them to save them. This happen quite a while ago and those that were caught by him seem to breed very well in his 2 feet tank.

Can anyone ID them for me? If we happen to find a foreign species in our waters, so be it, too many alien ones now. But if it is our very own endemic version, I think it is best we can ID it and try to save the species.

[illumbomb]

Should be Aplocheilus panchax (common name is whitespot) due to the presence of a very distinctive white spot on top of the head of the fish), can be found quite easily in the reservoirs and streams in the central catchment areas. It is quite aggressive in my opinion and should not be kept with shrimps and frys.

[Jungle-mania]

Ah, thank you. I never knew such a colourful specimen can be found in our local waters. How is it that the panchax exhibit such colours in a tank and not in the wild. I have always mistook the whitespot for another guppy variety.

[WiNd08]

wow, very nice looking fish there. wanna go catch some for myself

i only remembered seeing Boraras maculatus in singapore

if you go into the side streams and forested areas, you can actually find pools that are VERY clear and have lots of lush green water plants

[Quixotic]

There is actually a number of native freshwater fishes of Singapore. However, sadly, there is equally a number of introduced fishes as well.

List of freshwater fishes of Singapore, as of 2006...
http://www.nbrcnparks.org/pdf/Bio_Li...hwaterFish.pdf

Just a reminder though that removing flora and fauna from protected nature areas is illegal.

[ZANE]

Hey Illum,

Isnt this the same kind of killie we caught in Kota Tingi sometime this past summer?

Z.

[illumbomb]

Yup! They are everywhere, in Singapore too!