# General > Events, field trips and gatherings >  Journey to west coast of Peninsular Malaysia

## kuching

This is another great journey to search & photograph (& collecting) some rare & beautiful aquatic flora & fauna in Peninsular Malaysia. And this is the last fishing trip in year 2006.

In this trip :

1) I found _Paedocypris_ sp. in the peat swamp of Selangor!!!! This is one of the smallest fishes in the world!!!

See pix below:



2) I was lucky to visit some Cryptocoryne sites in Selangor area where the water level is not so high (no flooding in Selangor). One species is most probably a new species & another species is unidentified.


3) I managed to find some highland species of pitcher plants which I never seen before in the summit area of Gunung Ulu Kali.


More stories & photos will be posted in the forum soon. The heavy rainfall in Sarawak had caused my flight delayed ...& I just arrived at Kuching airport at 12am!!! I need to sleep now.

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## kuching

During the dry season of 2006, a group of orang asli (indigenous people) went for fishing in a secret paradise in the central part of lowland forest of Peninsular Malaysia. One of the them found this unidentified species of aquatic plant. He has seen Cryptocoryne before when he was working for a government department. So, he told the news to the people in the department & herman from national zoo of M'sia came to investigate.

Some people think that it is a rare variety of Crypt. minima which got very white spathe with tiny red dots but some researchers think that it is most probably a new species !!!!

A natural pond in the jungle of Peninsular Malaysia:





Collecting fish:





Halfbeak; most of the fish here are very common fish such as _Rasbora sumatrana_, _Betta pugnax_, _Puntius binotatus_....etc.

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## kuching

The Crypt & Barclaya growing abundantly on the right side of this sandy stream:





_Crypt._ cf _minima_  - red form (submerged in the water):




_Crypt._ cf _minima_  - green form (submerged in the water):







The spathe (flower) of _Crypt_ cf _minima_:

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## kuching

The green form (left) and ref form (right). Both are same species but according to Herman observation, the green form is infertile plant, which mean it does not flower. Herman told me he even found a red colored spathe in the red form. More research will be carried out to get to know more of this species.




_Barclaya motleyi_ in this spot is purple-dark green colored.





Terrestrial orchid, _Plocoglottis acuminata_:





The white-flowered shrub is probably either a species of _Randia_ or _Portorandia_  (???)

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## kuching

Inflorescence of _Crytosperma_ (aroid):





Oriental whip snake (_Ahaetulla prasina_)





A temporary hut (empty) built by orang asli:

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## kuching

_Sonerilla_ sp.





_Schismatoglottis_ (aroid), probably either _S. calyptrata_  or_ S. motleyana_:

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## kuching

On the second day of my journey to west coast of Peninsular M'sia, I decided to go to search for highland species of pitcher plants in Banjaran Titiwangsa (Titiwangsa Range). 

As I forgot to bring my reference books, I found problem to identify the 3 different species of pitcher plants I never seen before : _Nepenthes sanguinea_, _Nepenthes ramispina_  & _Nepenthes macfarlanei_.


**Please let me if i wrongly identified the pitcher plants below:


December 22, 2006. It was a cloudy day. Surprisingly, there was not much rainfall in central part of Peninsular Malaysia. (Southern part was badly hit by the flood & heavy rainfall)


The buffalo. The background is the mountain range called " Banjaran Titiwangsa".






A tributary of Sungai Batang Kali.





Searching for pitcher plants on the slope of the hill near the road to the summit of Gunung Ulu Kali. (altitute: around 1,000 feet)

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## kuching

Found _Nepenthes sanguinea_  growing in the shady place on the slope of the hill:





The red coloured pitcher of _Nepenthes sanguinea_. This is my very first time to see this species !!!! Wow!!!! So handsome!!!





_N. sanguinea_.





First time found _N. mirabilis_  which got very long pitcher :

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## kuching

Atitude in between 2,000 feet to 3,000 feet. I found _ N. sanguinea_ again:




Inflorescence of _N. sanguinea_  :





Pitcher of _N. sanguinea_:





Montane forest of Gunung Ulu Kali:

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## kuching

Pix below: I was searching for pitcher plants in the misty montane forest of Gunung Ulu Kali. (Temperature : 18 degree Celcius)





Found _N. ramispina_ :







Green coloured pitcher of _N. ramispina_:






Is this _N. macfarlanei_  ???

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## kuching

Another variety of Bamboo orchid, _Arudina graminifolia_




_Rhododendron_ sp.






Unidentified species:

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## kuching

Day 3 - rest day, shopping @ Damansara. 




Day 4 - Visiting the peat swamp & nearby areas in northern Selangor.

Sungai Bernam:






_Hampala macrolepidota_, a species of predatory fish:

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## kuching

A blackwater peat swamp in northern Selangor:




The fishes caught in the peat swamp:

_Puntius hexazona_





_Betta hipposideros_






_Rasbora kalochroma_





_Betta livida_







_Mystus bimaculatus_

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## kuching

Swamp eel (not snake), _Monopterus albus_.





Neohomaloptera johorensis.





_Parosphromenus harveyi_






_Channa bankanensis_.

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## kuching

Dzul is collecting fish:




_Paedocypris_ sp.






_Paedocypris_ sp. in its natural habitat:




_Paedocypris_ sp. swimming in school:

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## budak

Your puntius could be hexazona or juvenile of another species... one of your nicest trips!

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## hwchoy

looks like the hexazona, juveniles of the striped barbs don't quite have that "curve" in the bars.

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## ranmasatome

Thats a GREAT trip and wonderful pictures!!! i love that swamp eel.. so cute

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## kuching

It is P. hexazona caused I had collected juvenile of p. haxazona before. 

Second last location: Found green _Barclaya motleyi_ in a jungle stream:






Last location in day 4 - a forest stream; found an unidentified species of _Cryptocoryne_!!!





Close-up of unidentified species of Crypt.:

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## TS168

Hi Michael, this Paedocypris sp. has color? it seen that it show abit reddish in the pic. 
I not sure if i have seen it at EC sometime back it show no color but transparent.

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## kuching

> Hi Michael, this Paedocypris sp. has color? it seen that it show abit reddish in the pic. 
> I not sure if i have seen it at EC sometime back it show no color but transparent.


A bit of reddish, but most parts of the body are transparent.

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## kuching

More photos on this link:

http://www.ibanorum.netfirms.com/ulukali.html

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## kuching

Confirmed from the scientist, the Crypt I collected is Crypt minima.

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