The Spread Of The Australian Redclaw Crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus von Martens, 1868) in Malaysia

The introduction of alien crayfish species has resulted in changes of native species communities throughout the world. The Australian redclaw crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus were introduced in Malaysia for aquarium and aquaculture industry since 1980s. The current paper presents the distribution of the species in Malaysia through sampling trips, market surveys and focused interviews. Multiple size specimen in populations obtained from Sungai Benut (Johor) and Suai (Sarawak) confirms the establishment of the species in both west (Malaysian Peninsular) and east Malaysia (Borneo). There are no reports yet of any native species displacement or other ecological impacts in Malaysia caused by the redclaw introduction, although the potential cannot be dismissed totally. The growing redclaw culture industry could facilitate the spread of C. quadricarinatus faster and further in the near future

Diversity and composition of fish fauna at Telaga Air Estuary

This study was conducted to determine the diversity and composition of fish fauna at Telaga Air estuary from 4th _5 th February 2012. Five sampling stations were selected and fish were collected using three layer gill net after the 10 to 15 minutes of net deployment. A total of 237 individual fish from 26 families and 52 species were collected. The highest individual fish were collected at ST3 and the lowest at ST5. The most ubiquitous fish collected were from family Sciaenidae with 10 species and covered 32.70% of individual fish. Eight types of physico-chemical water parameters were taken and analyze using one way ANOV A showed that there were significant differences among all stations

Short Communication: Fecundity of freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) in selected rivers of Sarawak, Malaysia

Khairul Adha AR, Nicholas FF, Long SM, Naqiuddin AS, Esa Y. 2016. Fecundity of freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) in selected rivers of Sarawak, Malaysia. Biodiversitas 17: 498-502. Giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) is one of the important species of freshwater aquaculture in Malaysia. However, the sustainability of freshwater prawn farming is currently threatened by low production efficiency. In addition, the degradation of natural habitats and the use of illegal catching methods have caused great threats to freshwater giant prawn populations. Thus, the main objective of this study was to examine the wild population, ecology, and fecundity of giant freshwater prawn in natural water bodies in Sarawak’s rivers namely Samarahan, Sadong and Kayan rivers. The mean values of the physicochemical water parameters, such as dissolved oxygen, pH values, conductivity, turbidity and temperature from three rivers surveyed were differenced significantly (P< 0.05). However, the characteristics of water quality measured were found to be within the ideal range for freshwater prawn to survive and grow. There were significant differences (P < 0.05) of total length, total body weight and eggs weight of prawn population among three rivers. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) of prawn fecundity among the three rivers. The present study showed that berried female particularly from Kayan and Kerang river are suitable as potential brood stock from the wild population for breeding program