Provisional checklists on blackwater fish from the peat swamp in terengganu, west coast of peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

The blackwater fish species endemic to the peat swamp is economically and ecologically important in Southeast Asia, notably Malaysia. This report is the first peat swamp fish species of Kampung Yak Yah, Kemaman, Terengganu, (KYYKT), west coast of Peninsular Malaysia, aimed to document the fish species richness and update the provisional fish checklist in Malaysia. All species were collected from several stagnant blackwater peat swamps. A total of 14 species of freshwater fish from six families were recorded, and the most dominant family recorded was Cyprinidae (n=7), followed by Osphronaemidae, comprised of four species. Meanwhile, other families of Anabantidae, Siluridae, and Zenarchopteridae contributed at least one species each. Hence, more species may be recorded in future studies applying other sampling methods, such as the electrofishing technique, and believably be able to add a few more fish species to the checklist.