Of Mountain and Fish (ichthyological study in Kubah National Park)

Not many people will naturally associate fish with mountains, but these are an extremely important sanctuary for the species that called the steep hilly stream their home. The Matang Ranges in which Kubah National Park is situated served as a water catchment area housing several tributaries streams running to four different major river system (Sungai Sarawak [via Sg. Sarawak Kanan-Adis], Sungai Sibu Laut [via Sg. Selang, Sg. Cina, Sg. Matang], Batang Rambongan [via Sg. Rayu, Sg. Amok], Batang Kayan [via Sg. Kayan Putih/Merah]) around the Kuching, Bau, Lundu and padawan districts. Although these tributaries are in close proximity within the Kubah National Parks, they may houses different diversity of fishes due to the physical barrier of the ranges and sea water when the sea level rises and flooded the ancient Sunda River which used to connects all these modern river systems. Following the work by Atsushi Doi et al. on the Rayu river basin in 1998, we are currently revisiting the sites after 20 years gap and exploring the other unstudied tributaries.

The 2019 kids (honors student) conducting their first fieldwork in November

Meeting new friend of ecologist from Australia (from left: me, Jayden, Tom, Jimah, Mun, Iman, Nad & Emily)

Hiking along Mount Selang to check on small creeks that may be hiding isolated fish population

Jimah & Mun deploying minnow trap near a waterfalls

Mirza operating an electroshocker to stun fishes out of their hideaway

The kids like went flexing while sampling