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Malaysia 2009 - Sabah, Borneo
Hillstream biotopes in northern Borneo
We flew in via Singapore - Kuching, Sarawak, Borneo - Kota Kinabalu, provincial capital of Sabah, north Borneo, Malaysia, arriving late in the night. We had made our homework. The type localities of our target species were close by; Gastromyzon extrorsus Tan, 2006 was described from Sungai Moyog, Petagas basin, but also occurs in Kimanis River basin. Both basins are located on the western side of Sabah. G. extrorsus grows relatively big and possesses an enormous secondary rostrum, which gives these fishes a unique, bizarre appearance.
Another species drawing our attention was Gastromyzon auronigrus Tan, 2006 from Sungai Kinarom draining into Marudu Bay, which is at the northern face of Sabah. G. auronigrus also grows large and shows brilliant coloration; fine golden lines over dark greenish brown patches.
There are no other circulating photographs of these species than the ones in the original descriptions (Tan, 2006). Both species have never been exported for the ornamental fish trade, as far as we know.
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EW-MAL 01-09 Kimanis River
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Location
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Kimanis River on the road Jawa - Keningau, 42 km to Keningau, River flows on the right side heading east, Crocker Range west face, South China Sea slope, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia
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GPS coordinates
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90 m asl, N 05º 32', E115º 60'
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Date
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2009-06-02
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Time
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10:30
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Biotope
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Hillstream with high gradient, high - moderate current, riffle sections and irregularly located potholes. River max 15 m, 1 m deep, fast flowing water in riffles around 0.3 m deep.
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Parameters
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Temperature
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26.5
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ºC
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pH
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7.8
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pH
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Conductivity (EC)
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140
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µS/cm
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Hardness General
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ºGH
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Hardness Carbonate
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ºKH
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Nitrite
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mg/l
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Total Dissolved Solution (TDS)
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70
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ppm
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Species
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Macrobrachium sp.
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few, among the boulders along the banks
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Gastromyzon extrorsus Tan, 2006
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plenty, on the boulders in the main current, solitary
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Gastromyzon aeroides Tan & Sulaiman, 2006
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plenty, on the boulders in the main current, solitary
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Puntius sealei (Herre, 1933)
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few, among the boulders along the banks
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Paracrossochilus acerus Inger & Chin, 1962
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plenty, on the boulders in the main current, groups, up to 25cm
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Remarks
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Just a couple of hours later we arrived at the fist spot; biotope EW-MAL 01-09, Kimanis River. A fabulous fishing spot; extremely clear water runs over rock and pebble substratum.
During dry season the river just flows in the deepest bed. The river extends its width during rainy season to 5 times wider than now.
A first look into the river and Bingo! These marks are Gastromyzon graze marks.
And again Bingo! This is our target fish at the first spot; Gastromyzon extrorsus Tan, 2006.
Note how far the secondary rostrum overlaps the rostral sheath. There are just assumptions why this species evolved a secondary rostrum. It may play a role during courtship; mature males may use it when showing agonistic behavioural patterns.
This barb is Puntius sealei from EW-MAL 01-09, a common cyprinid species in Sabah. We will encounter it several times during our stay. It is not bound to hillstreams but also occurs in less oxygenated, stagnant waters.
We passed the Crocker Range and had lunch on the east face. This little, cute Bornean girl sneaked around us.
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EW-MAL 02-09 Sungai Pamilan
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Location
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Sungai Pamilan on the road SA3, Keningau - Tenom, 23 km to Tenom, River flows from right - left heading south, a tributary to the Pegalan River, Padas River basin, Crocker Range east face, Keningau county, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia
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GPS coordinates
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306 m asl, N 05º 17', E116º 01'
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Date
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2009-06-02
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Time
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14:30
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Biotope
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Stream with moderate current, partially riffles with a little faster current, max 5 m, 0.5 m deep, no vegetation, sand, leaf litter, pebbles and boulders, clear, moderate current
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Parameters
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Temperature
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24
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ºC
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pH
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7.6
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pH
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Conductivity (EC)
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120
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µS/cm
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Hardness General
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ºGH
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Hardness Carbonate
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ºKH
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Nitrite
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mg/l
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Total Dissolved Solution (TDS)
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60
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ppm
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Species
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Nematabramis borneensis Inger & Chin, 1962
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plenty, in groups
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Gastromyzon introrsus Tan, 2006
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few
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Paracrossochilus acerus Inger & Chin, 1962
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plenty
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Remarks
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Biotope EW-MAL 02-09 featured some wild growing banana, which made our lunch for some days.
The next biotope was located on the other face of Crocker Range. The current was much slower than in the previous spot.
Nematabramis borneensis is rather common is Sabah streams. Note the length of the barbels, which is an apomorphic character used for species differentiation.
Key to the species of the genus Nematabramis Boulenger, 1894
The picture shows Gastromyzon introrsus from EW-MAL 02-09 occurring on the east face of the Crocker Range it is the sibling species of G. extrorsus.
Gastromyzon introrsus, abdominal view.
This species just develop a minor secondary rostrum usually not overlapping the rostral cap.
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EW-MAL 03-09 Kepayan
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Location
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Nameless stream on the road Keningau - Kepayan, NE of Keningau, Crocker Range east face, Keningau county, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia
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GPS coordinates
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322 m asl, N 05º 25', E116º 16'
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Date
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2009-06-03
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Time
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10:30
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Biotope
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Stream with slowly - moderate flowing water, close to a village, washing and bathing place, slightly eutrophic, max 8 m, 0.3 m deep, in potholes around 1 m deep, no vascular water plants, but algae, leaf litter, sand, pebbles, boulders, clear - slightly turbid
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Parameters
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Temperature
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27
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ºC
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pH
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7.5
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pH
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Conductivity (EC)
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140
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µS/cm
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Hardness General
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ºGH
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Hardness Carbonate
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ºKH
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Nitrite
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mg/l
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Total Dissolved Solution (TDS)
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70
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ppm
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Species
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Paracrossochilus acerus Inger & Chin, 1962
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plenty
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Remarks
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Biotope EW-MAL 03-09, NE of Keningau, shows traces of pollution.
Although the streams ran by a village and showed some pollution, there were plenty of Paracrossochilus acerus.
Paracrossochilus acerus, lateral view.
This species is sensitive to massive water changes when kept in aquaria. It is not aggressive and makes a good algae grazer.
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EW-MAL 04-09 Bingkor
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Location
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Natural pool on the right of the road Bingkor - Tambunan, Padas River basin, Crocker Range east face, Tambunan county, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia
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GPS coordinates
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728 m asl, N 05º 34', E116º 17'
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Date
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2009-06-03
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Time
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11:40
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Biotope
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Natural pool with a drainage running below the road to the opposite side, several dead tree stems slanting upwards, 50 x 50 x 1.5 m, stagnant water, Elodea sp, Utricularia sp., leaf litter, loam, sand, mud, water: brownish, turbid.
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Parameters
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Temperature
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29
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ºC
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pH
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7.0
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pH
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Conductivity (EC)
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40
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µS/cm
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Hardness General
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ºGH
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Hardness Carbonate
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ºKH
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Nitrite
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mg/l
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Total Dissolved Solution (TDS)
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20
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ppm
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Species
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Puntius sealei (Herre, 1933)
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few
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Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758)
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abundant
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Shrimps
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few
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Remarks
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Biotope EW-MAL 04-09 is an exemption in our biotope survey as it was a natural pond featuring stagnant water.
Allochthonous Oreochromis niloticus are an introduced species originating from northern and eastern Africa.
There were few shrimps.
Could sb. please help with the scientific name?
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EW-MAL 05-09 Sungai Tikolod
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Location
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Sungai Tikolod, stream on the road Bingkor - Tambunan, crossing road left - right, 100 m before running into the Pegalan River, Padas River basin, Crocker Range east face, Tambunan county, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia
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GPS coordinates
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491 m asl, N 05º 37', E116º 19'
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Date
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2009-06-03
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Time
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13:00
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Biotope
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Hillstream with fast - very fast flowing water, deep potholes with fast current and riffles. Stream max 8 m, 0.3 m deep, in potholes around 1 m deep, no vascular water plants, sand, pebbles, boulders, clear water.
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Parameters
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Temperature
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ºC
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pH
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pH
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Conductivity (EC)
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µS/cm
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Hardness General
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ºGH
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Hardness Carbonate
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ºKH
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Nitrite
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mg/l
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Total Dissolved Solution (TDS)
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ppm
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Species
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Paracrossochilus acerus Inger & Chin, 1962
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plenty
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Gastromyzon lepidogaster Roberts, 1982
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plenty
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Remarks
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All species obtained in Sungai Tikolod were cast netted by four local boys, who were fishing in the riffles. They were astonishingly successful; one throw yielded up to four Gastromyzon.
This dead snake was found in the riffles by the kids.
They also caught this Paracrossochilus acerus.
There were plenty of Gastromyzon lepidogaster. The skillful kids caught them by cast netting.
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Copyright © 2004-2010 Marco Endruweit. All rights reserved. Email: me(at)aquariophil(dot)org - replace antispam precaution This website is optimized for 1024 x 768 screen resolution and best viewed with MS IE 6.0 or superior. Pop-ups should be enabled; allow active content such as scripts and ActiveX. Although it is regularly improved and updated it might contain doubtful, obsolete or wrong information. Your critic review can improve this site. Please fell free to let me know. Last update: 2010-07-06 www.aquariophil.org can be cited as: Endruweit, M. (ed) 2010: Aquariophil. - World Wide Web electronic publication, www.aquariophil.org, accessed on xxxx-xx-xx (yr-mt-dy)
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