# General > Events, field trips and gatherings >  My journey to south-eastern Peninsular Malaysia

## kuching

Hi all, I just came back to Kuching from a fishing trip in Johor & Pahang. I think its a fruitful trip.....but I can't bring back all the fish. I only brought back Betta tussyae, Betta pugnax, Betta imbellis & Betta bellica. Unfortunately, all my Betta bellica are found dead just now.....the rest are survived.

Many thanks to Herman, Marcus & Azmi for showing me around. Even though I failed to find Betta tomi & all the Paros. from Johor, I have seen so many beautiful fishes & aquatic plants that I can't find in Sarawak. Johor is really an amazing place! Today I'm posting some pictures from the trip....more pix will be posted here either on Sunday/Monday.


Picture below: Sunrise at Johor Strait....Good morning Johor & Singapore!!!!

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## kuching

Johor Bahru city, the gateway to the Southern Peninsular Malaysia.

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## kuching

Before reaching Johor, the plane was flying pass northern Kalimantan Barat....I think that river mouth is Sungai Sambas.....

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## kuching

Before posting the pix of the fish & aquatic plants, I want to show the pitcher plants of Johor :

(1) _Nepenthes gracilis_. 


 



(2) _Nepenthes rafflesiana_: 

 



And ....beautiful natural cross hybrid of _N. ampullaria_  & _N. rafflesiana_ :

(3) _Nepenthes_ x_hookeriana_ (lower pitcher) 



 




The aerial pitcher of _N._ x_hookeriana_ is SOOOOOO CUTE !!! I love it!

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## MrTree

Wah..seems you enjoyed ah. So what was the Betta in question?

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## kuching

> Wah..seems you enjoyed ah. So what was the Betta in question?


u mean _Betta_ cf _ibanorum_ from Biawak of Sarawak? Dr Tan will examine the fish tomorrow.

That "unidentified species" from Pahang is in fact,_Betta bellica_.

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## hwchoy

he said is regular _B. ibanorum_ lah.

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## budak

More pics here: http://budak.blogs.com/the_annotated...g_with_mi.html

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## MrTree

> That "unidentified species" from Pahang is in fact,_Betta bellica_.


Yup, couldn't get it from your sms, and by the way I cannot send sms to overseas, I am using pre-paid card in China. 

more pics!

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## MrTree

damn illusive _B.tomi_, and now I am worried.  :Razz:

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## kuching

> he said is regular _B. ibanorum_ lah.



If yes, then _Betta ibanorum_ coverage area is bigger than what we thought. :Smile:

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## kuching

DAY 1 (May 31) - Kota Tingii area.

Below: Street of Kota Tinggi. 


 



Jungle of Johor. 


 



Elephant dung is spotted. Jungle of Johor is a dangerous place compared to Sarawak as there are elephant, tiger & others large mammal to beware of..... 


 



My very first time to see the habitat of _Crypt. schulzei_.

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## kuching

Spathe of _Crypt. schulzei_. 

 



_Mayaka_ sp.??? 

 



_Mayaka_ sp.(???) is growing abundantly here. 

 




_Barclaya motleyi_. 


 




_Barclaya_ sp. 


 



_Barclaya_ sp.

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## kuching

_Blyxa_  sp. (first time seeing such a _Blyxa_....if u look carefully, the leaf is very slender!!!) 


 



_Crypt. griffithii_???? 


 



_Crypt. griffithii_???? 


 



Exploring deep into freshwater swamp...... 


 



Found _Crypt nurii_.

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## kuching

Next location is to visit the locality of new species of Crypt. 


 



Spathe of new species of _Cryptocoryne_. 


 



Spathe of new species of _Cryptocoryne_. 


 



Spathe of new species of _Cryptocoryne_. 



 



Spathe of new species of _Cryptocoryne_. 



 


Spathe of new species of _Cryptocoryne_.

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## kuching

Developing Spathe of new species of Cryptocoryne. 


 



_Betta pugnax_  (male). 


 



_Betta pugnax_  (female).

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## MrTree

> _Barclaya_ sp. 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
> _Barclaya_ sp.


Got emersed one meh?

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## kuching

> Got emersed one meh?


This species is emersed one. It doesn't grow well in submerged condition, according to Herman.

Send the pix to expert,still waiting him to reply me for the name of that Barclaya sp. :Razz:

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## XnSdVd

Interesting.. . the singaporean pugnax are blue instead of green....  :Surprised:  

And the griffithi looks a little.. long-ish... might be something else. But then again, i'm the fish guy  :Razz:  See what lorba or weirong have to say  :Wink:

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## kuching

> Interesting.. . the singaporean pugnax are blue instead of green....  
> 
> And the griffithi looks a little.. long-ish... might be something else. But then again, i'm the fish guy  See what lorba or weirong have to say


Yup, it could be something else.

Anyone seen that green Barclaya before? It's so beautiful!!! Another pix of that Barclaya sp. :

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## kuching

Day 2 (June 1st, 2006) 1st location : a stream & swamp of northern Kota Tinggi area. 


 



_Nemacheilus selangoricus_


 



Goby. 


 



_Pangio shelfordii._

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## kuching

Millipede is grazing on the mosses. 


 



Butterfly. (_Paralaxita_ sp.) 


 



Praying mantis. 


 




Most probably _Crypt. cordata_  var. _cordata_. 



 




_Crypt. nurii._  



 




Sungai Johor. 


 



Sungai Johor.

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## MrTree

What does the expert says? 

Oh, you got macro lens?

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## kuching

> What does the expert says? 
> 
> Oh, you got macro lens?


I think the expert is on vacation, no reply yet. You didn't see that green Barclaya before? It's growing next to Barclaya motleyi, not far from Crypt schulzei site....at a forest reserve area.


I don't have macro lens, but my camera got macro mode. I cropped some pictures so that can see the closer view of the object.

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## MrTree

Never interested in anything above water except orchid and pitcher.  :Razz:

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## kuching

DAY 2- second location. A dirt road cutting across the rainforest of Johor....we found out a lot of jungle streams & freshwater swamps. As we're running out of time, we only explored 1 of the streams. 


 




The jungle stream: 


 




Azmi found a patch of _Crypt. nurii_. 



 





Forest halfbeak (_Hemirhamphodon pogonognathus_)

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## kuching

_Trigonostigma heteromorpha_. 


 




Catfish. (_Leiocassis_ sp.) 


 



Catfish. (_Silurichthys_  sp.) 



 





Catfish. (_Mystus_ sp.)

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## juggler

> _Blyxa_  sp. (first time seeing such a _Blyxa_....if u look carefully, the leaf is very slender!!!)


Looks like Blyxa aubertii to me. Right?
Sorry - I only know B.japonica and B.aubertii.  :Smile:

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## hwchoy

for all we know there may be several undescribed blyxa species.

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## ranmasatome

That praying mantis looks interesting...

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## budak

can ID this bug??

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## ranmasatome

Yup.. sure can...well.. actually not too sure..cos i cant really see the face..
I presume its really small? looks like some sort of winged aphid but the wings are not characteristic of the normal aphid wings (not a simple vein structure). Also the antenna looks way different. However, if you got a shot of the face it would be much eaiser.. currently i just guess its in psocoptera with a lot of doubt because of the antennas. might also be some hemipteran/homopteran.
Are those blury things antenna and a long proboscius? Also this is from the trip ya? if not, considered hijacking leh.

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## kuching

> Yup.. sure can...well.. actually not too sure..cos i cant really see the face..
> I presume its really small? looks like some sort of winged aphid but the wings are not characteristic of the normal aphid wings (not a simple vein structure). Also the antenna looks way different. However, if you got a shot of the face it would be much eaiser..
> Are those blury things antenna and a long proboscius? Also this is from the trip ya? if not, considered hijacking leh.


Yup, Budak was with me that day at the peat swamp of Pahang where he found that strange bug. :Smile:

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## kuching

Got the ID for that _Barclaya_ is _Barclaya rotundifolia_ .

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## ranmasatome

actually might be a delphacidae depending on what the head looks like.. that antenna is throwing me off.. nice insect though.

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## budak

Might it be something in Derbidae?

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## MrTree

> Got the ID for that _Barclaya_ is _Barclaya rotundifolia_ .


wait a minute, the flower belongs to this _B.rotundifolia_? Seems it's growing together the submersed ones.

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## kuching

> wait a minute, the flower belongs to this _B.rotundifolia_? Seems it's growing together the submersed ones.


Yes. U didn't notice the colour is white? B. motleyi does not have white coloured flower.

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## kuching

DAY 2 - 3rd location is a beautiful river located in the north-eastern Johor. 


 



This river is really really amzing....got so many aquatic plants growing in this river.....got very large population of_ Crypt. cordata_  var. _cordata_....amazing!!! Hope I got water proof camera so that I can take the underwater photography. 

 



_Crypt. cordata_ var. _cordata_. 



 




Anyone knows what species of this aquatic plants? 


 




After that we're heading to the homeland of _Betta tomi_, but the bad weather was moving in, so we postponed the fishing trip to tomorrow. 

 



....continued tomorrow.

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## ranmasatome

> Might it be something in Derbidae?


Well...its probable.. but i cant see the head leh.. :Grin: 
still those antennas are huge for a derbid.

Mike.. very nice location.. think that plant should be a sort of utricularia sp.. Wonderful how it grows like taht among the crypts..

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## MrTree

> Yes. U didn't notice the colour is white? B. motleyi does not have white coloured flower.


I was looking at the leaf all the time!! Interesting.

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## kuching

> I was looking at the leaf all the time!! Interesting.


I think, if u plant it in submerged condition...it may require a lot of CO2.  :Wink:

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## kuching

DAY 3 - Breakfast hour. Herman & Marcus walking on the street of Mersing. Mersing is a beautiful fishing town. It is also the gateway to some of the most beautiful islands of South China Sea.

 



Pig-tailed macaque (_Macaca nemestrina_) : "STAY AWAY FROM MY TERRITORY!!" We're "greeted" by this macaque when we reached the 1st location on 3rd day - the homeland of _Betta tomi_. 


 





The jungle stream/swamp of the habitat of _Betta tomi_  & _Betta pugnax_. I failed to catch _Betta tomi_  no matter how hard I tried. I only caught _Betta pugnax_.

 




First time caught _Channa gachua_  of Peninsular Malaysia. The colour is much more beautiful than the _Channa gachua_  of north-western Borneo. 


 





Sungai Endau - on the left is Pahang & on the right is Johor. 

 


.....to be continued. :Razz:

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## kuching

BTW, _Crypt. cordata_ var._ cordata_ also found there!

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## ranmasatome

this crypt is very nice when submersed.. red leaves with green markings.. very swee if it doesn't melt on you and dissappear.

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## kuching

Finally uploading everything to my webpage :

http://www.ibanorum.netfirms.com/johortrip.htm

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## kuching

Second location of 3rd day is somewhere near Rompin of southern Pahang. There got a lot of blackwater streams & peat swamp. 

 



Caught the tiny fish, _Boraras maculata_.

 



Croaking gourami. (_Trichopsis vittata_)

 




_Betta imbellis_ (female).


 



_Betta tussyae_ "Rompin".

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## kuching

_Betta tussyae_  "Rompin". 

 



_Betta tussyae_  "Rompin". 

 



Tiny catfish. (_Parakysis_ sp.)


 



_Betta bellica_.

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## kuching

Sungai Kahang. Due to heavy downpour, water level in this river is very high. I can't see any Crypt. which is growing in this river.


 




Country road which is cutting through the jungle of Johor.

 



Johor Bahru city.

 



Johor Bahru city. 

 




Sunrise at Johor Bahru city. 


 



Johor Bahru city.

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## kuching

A botanist told me that green Barclaya is _Barclaya cordata_, not _B. rotundifolia_. Now i'm confused. So I'm asking that botanist how to differentiate these 2 Barclaya....still waiting for his reply. This is getting interesting.


Pix :

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## kuching

The botanist said it's B. rotundifolia.  :Smile:

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## budak

Can get from the botanist a Barclaya checklist and taxonomic keys??

While searching, i found the following related stuff:
A series of Malaysian stamps feature aquatic plants! http://www.wa.commufa.jp/~plant/art/2.htm
An abstract noting four valid species of Barclaya with some keys! http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=000...2-X&size=LARGE

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## kuching

> Can get from the botanist a Barclaya checklist and taxonomic keys??
> 
> While searching, i found the following related stuff:
> A series of Malaysian stamps feature aquatic plants! http://www.wa.commufa.jp/~plant/art/2.htm
> An abstract noting four valid species of Barclaya with some keys! http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=000...2-X&size=LARGE


Errr, he is very busy person. I don't think I can get it.

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## kuching

My _Betta pugnax_  (from Mersing). 

Pix 1:

 


Pix 2:

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## |squee|

That's a nice _Betta pugnax_! _Betta tussyae_ "Rompin" is cool too.

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## kuching

Another correction; The _Pangio_ from Kota Tinggi is not _Pangio shelfordii_ but _Pangio muraeniformes_:

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## primavera

Very impressed with your photography skills, especially the portrait shots of towns and such. 

So envious of your oppurtunity to see beautiful crypts too. Speaking of which, is anyone growing those crypts (shulzei, griffithii and such) submersed? Any pics? I have a crypt which is very similar to the emersed griffithii shown. I have 2, one growing emersed and one growing submersed. I also thought that griffithii leaves were more rounded. Oh well, might be a subform from different locality then.

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## XnSdVd

Longer than the natives... with yellow eyes.. hmm..

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