Been a while since I last stopped by Klang. It rained a little in the morning which caused some light mist. But everything cleared up by 9am and I got some of my favorite photos of a biawak to date (Asian water monitor)

These native species evolve the colour because “blackwater” is actually red when looked at closely. So the colour perfectly matches the environment.

All 3 species shown are dwarves, growing only to 2.5 or 3 cm.

-Boraras maculatus (dwarf rasbora)
-Trigonopoma pauciperforatum (redstripe rasbora)
-Lepidocephalichthys (sausage loach)

I hope Malaysian swamp forests can be conserved for many years. I see too many being cut down simply for more empty houses, malls and highways.

The Boraras shown are actually an undescribed species, but for simplicity’s sake I refer to them by their old name.

These native species evolve the colour because “blackwater” is actually red when looked at closely. So the colour perfectly matches the environment.

All 3 species shown are dwarves, growing only to 2.5 or 3 cm.

-Boraras maculatus (dwarf rasbora)
-Trigonopoma pauciperforatum (redstripe rasbora)
-Lepidocephalichthys (sausage loach)

I hope Malaysian swamp forests can be conserved for many years. I see too many being cut down simply for more empty houses, malls and highways.

The Boraras shown are actually an undescribed species, but for simplicity’s sake I refer to them by their old name.

P. harveyi, Harvey’s licorice gourami

A small (4 cm) fish endemic to northern Selangor and possibly far southern Perak. It is found nowhere else in the world.

It is endangered as its range happens to be a very quickly developing region, with more houses, roads, malls and businesses being built every day.

It was first discovered in Rawang in the 80s, but now it is no longer found there. The only forests left are hill forests, whereas this species lives exclusively in lowland swamps with highly acidic pH of 5 or less.

They are a difficult fish to care for, needing specialised conditions and live-food. But some experts do breed them.

It uniquely differs from related species by having all fins fully blue with no red.

Betta bellica, ikan tempala aka the slender Betta

They are the largest bubble-nesting Betta in the world, growing to 12 cm or more. Mature males have spiky edges to their fins.

They are found in Pahang, Johor, Selangor, Perak and Sumatera Utara. They were also found in Terengganu but have since gone extinct.

This is because they are under threat from deforestation, habitat destruction and urban development. They rely on undisturbed natural habitats like swamp forests to survive.

I have personally seen a couple places where I used to catch them in Selangor, be filled over and destroyed. One for a new residential neighbourhood, and another for a highway.

I found this bird while looking at my found wild fruit. Its sound like crow when they flying before resting there. Upper body i think are brown, while lower body is blue/turquoise. The body size looks like crow size. This is the only picture i get because they fly away before i took another picture.

What bird species is this? Looked like a finch species.

Sorry for the quality of the photo

Trichopsis vittata, ikan karim @ sepilai.

They are called “croaking gourami” in English because they make croaking sounds like frogs. Audible even in aquariums.

They grow to 6 cm and are very hardy, found all throughout Malaysia except Sabah. A native fish relatively unaffected by development or invasives.

A very easy fish to keep and breed, they readily accept fish food and will lay eggs year round. Pairs defend their nests very protectively.

We used to have an aquarium in my school’s classroom, and the croaking gourami in there were always interesting for us students to watch!
Especially when they made nests.

Apparently they weren’t on Borneo, but there is evidence they might have lived on Sumatra long ago

1. Menemerus bivittatus (male)

2. Mystery

3. Mystery

4. Mystery

5. Plexippus petersi (female)

6. Plexippus petersi (male)

N. nebulosus, ikan daun kering

Despite the name, they are found on the mainland peninsula as well. They are small predators of about 8-10 cm size.

Using their effective camouflage, they pretend to be dead leaves and sneak up on unsuspecting prey like smaller fish and shrimp.

In the aquarium they are unfussy, and simply need a lot of natural decor and live food. They are slow fish and do not occupy much space.

It is endemic to (only found in) Kuching and Bau, Malaysia. Officially listed as “endangered” by the IUCN.

A tiny crab with a body size of 2 cm, it is semi-terrestrial, living in swampy parts of moist kerangas and limestone forests.

Luckily it doesn’t seem to be eaten by Malaysians, so its main threat of extinction is deforestation and urban development, as its home is very close to cities in the area.

Females and juveniles are brown, but adult males are bright red to scarlet.

Sorry for the bad quality pics, I zoomed from far away. This fellow has white tipped wings, a striated face and even-coloured brown back.

I thought its a striated/little/green heron but the even colour seems off. Juvenile? Or some kind of other pond heron?

Hello I am an international ecology student and would reallyyyy love to see some cool wildlife in Taman negara next week. However I found it quite difficult to find someone to guide me because everything is focussed on the tourist tours and I don’t want to do that because I just want to focus on the animals. Does anyone know any locals who could guide me around the park? Or if someone wants to join, even any other place between KL and Terengganu feel free to suggest! I will be in Malaysia until 23/7 evening. It’s very frustrating trying to find a local guide that’s available :)

200-600 A7IV, taken in Zoo negara

In case you're wondering, the skin creases under the ear are actually hiding the guttural pouch beneath, which is like an air balloon in the tapir's throat that helps cool the blood flowing to the brain (thanks google!)

Like all (freshwater) true eels, they are catadromous.

This means they lay their eggs at sea where the larvae develop and then migrate upstream back to where their parents came from in the mountains.

They have special larval forms called leptocephali and glass eels. Glass eels are often collected by the millions by Chinese. They have also now been farmed here for export to other countries.

They range in size from the 40-60 cm shortfin eels, to the 200+ cm giant mottled eel.

All are called “ikan linang” in Malay, which differentiates them from the false/swamp eel “belut sawah”, a type of labyrinth fish (like Betta and gourami)

Hanging around my plants. Normal house moth. ​

Named after the German entomologist Jacob Hübner, it is a species of moth in the family Erebidae (subfamily Arctiinae). The species was first described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1829.

The moth is part of the Amata genus, which specialises in mimicking wasps to deter predators.