Recently the interest of public and stakeholders were focus on the environmental status of Kuching Wetland National Park (KWNP) due to the increase of urbanization processes and anthropogenic activities. A field sampling which covered 10 stations was conducted at the outer and inner boundary of KWNP in August 2011 during high tide. Physico-chemical water parameters were recorded. Triplicate of near bottom water samples were collected using 2.5 L Van don water sampler (Wildco®) for further analyses of nutrient, chlorophyll a (chl a), biological oxygen demand (BOD) and total suspended solids (TSS). The aimed of the study were to assess the water quality of KWNP and to determine the distribution pattern of physico-chemical components and its relationship to the phytoplankton chlorophyll a concentrations in water between the outer and inner part of KWNP. One-way analyses of similarity indicated that all the study sites were significantly different between stations (p-value < 0.05) and boundaries (p-value < 0.05). Water temperature, pH, ammonium nitrogen (NH4–N) and inorganic phosphorous (Inorg–P) were known affecting the abundance of phytoplankton communities. The concentrations of nitrate nitrogen (NO3–N) at the outer and inner boundaries of KWNP were over-ranged as compared to Malaysia marine standards.
The present study describes the new record of Dicyathifer mannii under the family Teredinidae Rafinesque, 1815. Sampling was conducted in the mangrove area of Kuala Penyu and sample was collected from dead wood debris. The pallets of Dicyathifer is half-conical in shape and 8mm in length. The cone measured 3.9mm in length and 3.6mm in width. The cavity is 1.2mm deep; the curve of the opening on the cone is about 98% of the depth of the cone. Inside the cone cavity, from the center, a ridge with rib-like feature runs down the length of the cavity. Only one species of Dicyathifer is recorded and the present species is the first new record described in Malaysia with some additional measurement metrics for future taxonomic identification purposes.