Together with the islands of Sumatra (Indonesia) and Borneo (Indonesia, Malaysia), the Philippines are the main center of diversity for carnivorous pitcher plants of the genus, Nepenthes L. Nepenthes are the largest of all carnivorous plants, and the species with the biggest pitchers are capable of trapping and digesting small amphibians and even mammals. The central cordillera of Mindanao Island in the south of the Philippines is mostly covered with old, primary forest and is the largest remaining cohesive, untouched area of wilderness in the Philippines. In a recent field exploration of two areas of the central cordillera, namely Mount Sumagaya and a section of the Pantaron range, four new taxa of Nepenthes were discovered. These four remarkable new species, N. pantaronensis, N. cornuta, N. talaandig and N. amabilis, are described, illustrated and assessed.
The North Borneo state of Sabah is known worldwide for its beautiful islands and dive sites. Local hospitals deal with a number of marine-related injuries, including marine fauna envenomation by Scorpaenidae and Synanceiidae families of fish. We report a case of a tourist who presented with excruciating pain on her right foot after stepping on a stonefish. Despite being given parenteral analgesia and regional anaesthesia, the pain persisted. Her pain improved after she soaked her foot in hot water for about 30 minutes. No further treatment was required. We reviewed the literature comparing this inexpensive mode of treatment with other conventional treatments. We also explored the possibility of using hot water immersion for treatment of envenomation by other types of marine animals.
A new, diminutive species of Rock Gecko Cnemaspis mahsuriae sp. nov. of the affinis group, is described from Gunung Raya on Pulau Langkawi, Kedah, Peninsular Malaysia and is differentiated from all other species in the affinis group by having a unique combination of characters including a maximum SVL of 36.6 mm; keeled subtibials and ventrals; 21-24 paravertebral tubercles; no tubercles in the lateral caudal furrows; caudal tubercles not encircling tail; no precloacal pores; 23-26 subdigital lamellae on the fourth toe; no white ocelli in the shoulder region; no yellow postscapular band; and faint yellow bars on the flanks. Cnemaspis mahsuriae sp. nov. is a forest-dwelling species living in close sympatry or paraptry with the insular endemic C. roticanai Grismer & Chan. The Langkawi Archipelago harbors a unique mix of Malaysian and Indochinese taxa and the frequency of new discoveries from this group of islands is increasing.
Evaluating water level changes at intertidal zones is complicated because of dynamic tidal inundation. However, water level changes during different tidal phases could be evaluated using a digital surface model (DSM) captured by unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with higher vertical accuracy provided by a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Image acquisition using a multirotor UAV and vertical data collection from GNSS survey were conducted at Kilim River, Langkawi Island, Kedah, Malaysia during two different tidal phases, at high and low tides. Using the Structure from Motion (SFM) algorithm, a DSM and orthomosaics were produced as the main sources of data analysis. GNSS provided horizontal and vertical geo-referencing for both the DSM and orthomosaics during post-processing after field observation at the study area. The DSM vertical accuracy against the tidal data from a tide gauge was about 12.6 cm (0.126 m) for high tide and 34.5 cm (0.345 m) for low tide. Hence, the vertical accuracy of the DSM height is still within a tolerance of ±0.5 m (with GNSS positioning data). These results open new opportunities to explore more validation methods for water level changes using various aerial platforms besides Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and tidal data in the future.
Selingan Island off Sandakan, Sabah is a famous turtle nesting ground and a part of the Turtle Islands Park (TIP) within the Coral Triangle region of Malaysia. This small island faces the serious problem of beach erosion that is reducing the turtle nesting area. Sabah Parks deployed stone revetments in 2005, followed by placement of reef balls at the southern part of the Selingan Island in 2007 for protecting the shoreline. The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of these measures for shoreline protection. Shoreline changes were determined from satellite images, beach profiling and field observations. Satellite images from 2010 to 2016 were obtained from Google Earth Pro analyzed to examine the changes in the shape and size of the island with QGIS software. Beach profiling was performed in December 2017 at three sites and compared with the condition in 2011. The findings indicated that the shape of the island was squeezed towards the east where the reef balls were located. The size of the island has not changed much in 9 years after the deployment of the reef balls, but a high volume of sediments accumulated at the south due to the presence of shoreline protection. Generally, the man-made structures in Selingan Island are effective in trapping the sediment and providing more nesting area for turtles. It is recommended that the shoreline dynamics of the island should be regularly monitored for better understanding of the changes and taking appropriate actions.
Seagrasses provide a range of marine ecosystem services. These include coastal protection, biodiversity, provision of food for various organisms, breeding and nursery habitats for many marine species, and carbon storage. Increasing anthropogenic pressures have contributed to the decline of seagrass habitats. Transplantation is one of the solutions to increase seagrass coverage and resilience. What is often overlooked, however, is the ability of this tropical ecosystem to attract and support faunal assemblages that may impinge on the success of the transplantation. A pilot study on seagrass transplantation at Gaya Island (Kota Kinabalu, Sabah) was intended for observing its stability and species of fauna that develop association with this vegetation. The study covered the southwest and northeast monsoons. Mixed seagrass species were planted on approximately 50% of 30 m 2 transplantation areas. Monitoring of the planted seagrass was carried out in five phases (T1-T5) from September 2016 to April 2018. Weekly observations were made by SCUBA diving. Identification of associated fauna was done on the spot and was based on morphological characteristics. During the T1 (September to December 2016) the seagrass coverage was reduced to 41% due to strong waves generated by the northeast monsoon. However, the seagrass coverage increased ( 66 %) during the southwest monsoon (T2 - T4) in 2017. In early 2018 (T5), the seagrass coverage again reduced (about 18%) due to strong waves but recovered again at the end of the monitoring period (April 2018). A total of 30 species of fauna that were identified consisted of 9 resident and 21 non-resident species. Physical structure of transplanted seagrass created a microhabitat, and increased the food availability and abundance, which attracted many species of different trophic levels.
Pulau Tioman is a popular tourist island off the east coast of Peninsula Malaysia, known for its vast areas of intact vegetation. Six tick species have been recorded on the island but little is known about their local ecology or public health importance. To facilitate studies of the tick fauna of Pulau Tioman, a checklist of all species and host associations is presented with the first host records, from Pulau Tioman, of Amblyomma helvolum from the Asian water monitor (Varanus salvator) and Amblyomma varanense from the keeled rat snake (Ptyas carinata). A pictorial key is also presented for all tick species known from the island.
Tapinoma indicum is a household pest that is widely distributed in Asian countries. It is known as nuisance pest that causes annoyance and disturbance by constructing nests and foraging in building for food and water. This article documents the draft genome dataset of T. indicum collected in Penang Island, Malaysia using the next-generation sequencing known as the Illumina platform. This article presents the pair-end 150 bp genome dataset and the quality of the sequencing result. This dataset provides the information for further understanding of T. indicum in the molecular aspect and the opportunity to develop a novel method for pest control and regulation. The dataset is available under Sequence Read Archive (SRA) databases with the accession number SRR10848807.
This study reports the discovery of the exclusive predation of sea turtle hatchlings by several juvenile blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) in Chagar Hutang bay on Redang Island, Malaysia, in the South China Sea. Three dead specimens of C. melanopterus were retrieved from ghost nets, and the entire digestive tracts of these sharks solely contained the partially digested bodies of sea turtle hatchlings, with no evidence of the remains of any other prey. Thus, juvenile C. melanopterus may opportunistically feed primarily on turtle hatchlings during times when hatchling abundance is high.
One new cembrane diterpene, 16-hydroxycembra-1,3,7,11-tetraene (1), along with three known compounds, 15-hydroxycembra-1,3,7,11-tetraene (2), sarcophine (3) and sarcophytoxide (4) were isolated from Sarcophyton sp. collected from Karah Island, Terengganu, West Malaysia. Their structures were elucidated based on spectroscopic data. Activities of these compounds against antibacterial resistant clinical bacteria are reported. Only 1 exhibited inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus.
A study on the prevalence of a common endoparasite in the wild population of the American cockroach was conducted in Penang Island using a trapping method at several sampling sites on the island. Gregarine blattarum was found in the digestive tract in 5 out of 115, or 4.35%, of the wild American cockroaches, Periplaneta americana, that were sampled. This is the first report in Malaysia of Gregarine blattarum in local American cockroaches.
Coral reefs in the northern region of the Straits of Malacca have a diverse group
of octocorals growing on its bed. The octocorals identified in this study are from islands
along the Straits. In this study, 23 specimens were identified, belonging to 4 sub-orders,
which have been subdivided into 8 families. From these 8 families, 15 different genera
have been identified. The identification process for this research was conducted based on
five important keys; the external form and colouration, polyps or colonial and fundamental
structure of colonies, monomorphic or dimorphic, the arrangement of polyps, and the
arrangement of sclerites.
The earwig (Dermaptera) fauna of Penang Island, Malaysia, was evaluated by means of an extensive field survey together with revision of the few published data. Based on the results of the field survey, 31 species are recognized (2 Diplatyidae, 3 Pygidicranidae, 5 Anisolabididae, 2 Labiduridae, 14 Spongiphoridae, 4 Chelisochidae, 1 Forficulidae). Fifteen of these taxa are new to Peninsular Malaysia (=West Malaysia): Diplatys annandalei Burr, 1911, Diplatys mutiara n. sp., Euborellia philippinensis Srivastava, 1979, Metisolabis punctata (Dubrony, 1879), Pseudovostox brindlei Srivastava, 2003, Chaetospania anderssoni Brindle, 1971, Chaetospania javana Borelli, 1926, Chaetospania huisiangi n. sp., Paralabellula boettcheri (Borelli, 1923), Paralabellula rotundifrons (Hincks, 1954), Nesogaster amoenus (Stål, 1855), Hamaxas crassus Borelli, 1926, Proreus coalescens (Borelli, 1927), Hypurgus humeralis (Kirby, 1891), and an unidentified Echinosoma sp. Species composition of the island are compared with the dermapteran fauna of Thailand. Descriptions of females (or female genitalia) are given for some species for the first time.
Recent fieldwork in southern Tanintharyi revealed the presence of a small Green Crested Lizard in the wet evergreen forest. We generated mtDNA sequence data (ND2) that demonstrates that this population's nearest relative is Bronchocela rayaensis Grismer et al., 2015 of Pulau Langkawi, northwestern Peninsular Malaysia and Phuket Island. Morphologically the Burmese Bronchocela shares many features with Bronchocela rayaensis, which potentially would make this recently described Thai-Malay species a synonym of Bronchocela burmana Blanford, 1878; however, we interpret the genetic and morphological differences to reflect evolutionary divergence and recommend the recognition of both species.
The central coast of Tamil Nadu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, along with other regions, was severely hit by the tsunami on 26 December 2004. A strange spawning behaviour of the Indian horseshoe crabs (Tachypleus gigas, Müller) was observed after the tsunami disturbance. Along the northeast coast of India, the horseshoe crabs normally migrate towards the shore in large numbers coinciding with the tidal height and grain size of the sediment and spawn in nests made in sand. The spawning behaviour was normal until November 2004 and throughout that period about 35 to 45 nests in 200 m2 of area of the breeding beach were examined. However, no nesting was observed from December 2004 to March 2005, i.e. after the occurrence of tsunami. The number of nests per 200 m2 of area (~82) and the number of eggs per nest (750-1000 eggs) were increased considerably when the normal conditions were restored in April 2005. The absence of spawning migration, from December 2004 to March 2005, is totally an unusual behaviour and this happened for the first time during the past several years of the study period.
Spatial and temporal variations in concentrations of several metals and isotopes in sediment cores from around Penang Island, an area with economically important biological resources off the northwest coast of peninsular Malaysia, are reported. Because of a typical, monazite rich mineralogy in surrounding drainage basins, sedimentary metal enrichment factors relative to global average materials, enrichment factors (EFs) of ˃1.0 do not always indicate significant anthropogenic metal inputs. Because of extensive metal solubilization in the hot, organic carbon rich area, EFs of < 1.0 may be observed for several metals despite significant anthropogenic contributions. Comparison of metal-Al relationships in Penang area surface sediments with those in nearby and presumed uncontaminated Strait of Malacca sediments more accurately correct for atypical regional solubilization and mineralogical effects than comparison to global average materials. Such comparisons show concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni, Cr, As, Sb, Zn and V have changed by less than a factor of two by anthropogenic discharges. Sedimentary concentration profiles of Pb, Zn and Cu, ratioed to Sc to normalize for variations in grain size and mineralogy, have subsurface maxima suggestive of modest and recently reduced anthropogenic inputs. Mn, U, As and Sb have Sc-normalized concentration profiles clearly affected by diagenetic processes. Sc-normalized profiles of Cr, Th, Ce and Sm show only small changes with depth, confirming insignificant anthropogenic inputs and undetectable postdepositional diagenetic mobility.
Excess ²¹⁰Pb activities and fluxes in Penang area sediments are limited by supply of this radionuclide, in contrast to sediments of both the northwestern U.S.A. and Amazon continental shelves, where they are limited by particle scavenging reactions.²¹⁰Pb activities in sediments of
the shallow, dynamic Penang area often show erratic or unconvincing changes with depth that
cannot be reliably modeled by assuming steady state, constant deposition rate of particles of
uniform chemistry, mineralogy and initial unsupported ²¹⁰Pb, and that mixing is limited to a
recognizable surface layer and resemble a diffusive process.
The problem of difficulty in obtaining cloud-free scene at the equatorial region from satellite platforms can be
overcome by using airborne imagery as an attempt for introducing an economical method of remote sensing
data; which only requires a digital camera to provide near time data. Forty three digital images were captured
using a high resolution digital camera model pentax optio A40 (12 megapixels)at a selected location in the same day in Penang Island from a low-altitude flying autopilot aircraft (CropCam) to generate land use/land cover (LULC) map of the test area. The CropCam was flown at an average altitude of 320 meters over the ground while capturing images which were taken during two flying missions for the duration of approximately 15 and 20 minutes respectively. The CropCam was equipped with a digital camera as a sensor to capture the GPS points based digital images according to the present time to ensure the mosaic of the digital images. Forty one images were used in providing a mosaic image of a bigger coverage of area (full panorama). Training samples were collected simultaneously when the CropCam captured the images by using hand held GPS. Supervised classification techniques, such as the maximum likelihood, minimum-to-distance, and parallelepiped were applied to the panoramic image to generate LULC map for the study area. It was found that the maximum likelihood classifier produce superior results and achieved a high degree of accuracy. The results indicated that the CropCam equipped with a high resolution digital camera can be useful and suitable tool for the tropical region, and this technique could reduce the cost and time of acquiring images for LULC mapping.
Surface coverage and some properties soil chemicals were assessed at the Punta Fort William, Greenwich Island during the summer from 1–11 February 2008. Twenty sampling points were established along two strip transects covering a total area of 160 m2. Punta Fort William was basically barren. Rocks, stones and pebbles covered 89.4% of the Punta Fort William. The diversity of vegetation in Punta Fort William was relatively low as compared to other South Shetland Islands. Mosses predominated the area and covered 9.1% of the total surface. Colobantus quitensis was the only vascular plant found at the Punta Fort William. It covered 0.5% of the total surface area. Lichens contributed 0.2% of the surface coverage. Although lichen coverage was low, its frequency of occurrence was among the highest. Total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) in the study area ranged from 1 g to 39 g C kg–1 and 12 μg to 3892 μg N kg–1, respectively. The level of TOC and TN were comparable to those reported in other maritime locations in Antarctic. Higher levels of TOC and TN were detected in the areas with intensive biological activities. Hydrocarbon concentration was very low in this area and the sources of hydrocarbons were both natural and anthropogenic. The natural hydrocarbons source was mostly biogenic while the petrogenic hydrocarbons input was anthropogenic.