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SEAVR 2017: 023-026 ISSN : 2424-8525 Date of publication: 31 March 2017 Hosted online by ecologyasia.com

Some fishes observed at Gua Tempurung, Perak, Peninsular Malaysia

Nick BAKER & Kelvin K. P. LIM

nbaker @ ecologyasia.com (Baker) nhmlimkp @ nus.edu.sg (Lim) Observer: Nick Baker. Photographs by: Nick Baker. Subjects identified by: Kelvin K. P. Lim. Location: Sungai Tempurung outflow at Gua Tempurung, Perak, Peninsular Malaysia. Elevation: 70 metres Habitat: Freshwater. Clear, shallow, sunlit stream issuing from limestone cavern. Fine sand and gravel substrate. Date and time: 02 June 2016, 14:30 hrs. Identity of subjects: 1) Hasselt’s Hard-lipped Barb (Ikan Terbol), Osteochilus vittatus (Fig. 1). 2) Indochinese Spotted Barb (Ikan Putih), Barbodes rhombeus (Fig. 2). 3) Malayan Rasbora (Ikan Seluang), Rasbora vulgaris (Fig. 3). 4) Sunda Torrent Barb (Ikan Sia), Mystacoleucus obtusirostris (Fig. 4). Description of records: All the fishes shown here were observed in a 5-metre long, shallow pool which is the most upstream part of Sungai Tempurung (= Tempurung River) where it exits from Gua Tempurung (= Tempurung Cave) (Fig. 5). All fishes were photographed from above the water, and are thus depicted in dorso-lateral view.

Fig. 1. Hasselt’s Hard-lipped Barb, Osteochilus vittatus. © Nick Baker

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Fig. 2. Indochinese Spotted Barb, Barbodes rhombeus. © Nick Baker

Fig. 3. Malayan Rasbora, Rasbora vulgaris. © Nick Baker

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Fig. 4. Sunda Torrent Barb, Mystacoleucus obtusirostris. © Nick Baker

Fig. 5. The subjects all inhabited the pool immediately behind the six people. © Nick Baker

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Remarks: The waterway flows through a limestone outcrop, indicating that the featured fishes thrive in hard and alkaline freshwater with a pH value of above 7. All the species featured here are known to occur in Peninsular Malaysia (Mohsin & Ambak, 1983, as Osteochilus hasselti, Puntius binotatus, Rasbora sumatrana and Mystacoleucus marginatus). The updated nomenclature of the fishes follows Kottelat (2013). References:

Kottelat, M. (2013). The fishes of the inland waters of Southeast Asia: a catalogue and core bibliography of the fishes known to occur in freshwaters, mangroves and estuaries. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. Supplement No. 27: 1-663.

Mohammad Mohsin, A. K. & Mohd. Azmi Ambak. (1983). Freshwater Fishes of Peninsular Malaysia. Universiti Pertanian Malaysia. xvii + 284 pp.