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| ARTICLE INFORMATION: Author: Michael Lo Title: The Crypt Hunting Trip Summary: During the Chinese New Year holiday, Michael made a two day trip to a remote part of Sarawak and found a variety of fish and plants. Contact for editing purposes: email: Michael, at: rasbora2004@yahoo.com Date first published: February 2005 Publication: For more photos and information about fish and plants in Sarawak, see Michael's website: http://www.ibanorum.netfirms.com Reprinted from Aquarticles: Translated into Italian and published on August 30, 2007 at: www.vergari.com/acquariofilia/biotopo15i_asia.asp |
ARTICLE USE: Internet publication (club or non-profit web site): 1. Credit author, original publication, and Aquarticles. 2. Link to http://www.aquarticles.com and original website if applicable. 3. Advise Aquarticles Printed publication: Mail two printed copies to: Aquarticles.com #205 - 5525 West Boulevard Vancouver, British Columbia V6M 3W6 Canada We will forward one to Michael |
Borneo Field Trip Diaries - Part IX by Michael Lo DATE: February 12th - 13th , 2005
CLICK ON THUMBNAILS FOR ENLARGEMENTS, THEN GO "BACK."
After 4 hours of driving, we reached a small division of Sarawak called Saratok. There are a lot of gravel roads in the interior part of Saratok. My car was not suitable to run on this kind of road so we had to drive very slowly. We reached a stream after 20 minutes of driving. Andrew carried his video-camera while I took out my net and camera and ran down to the stream. It was a clearwater stream. I caught a lot of Rasbora tuberculata, and also collected wood shrimp and Puntius kuchingensis.
After photographing all the fish we collected, we continued our journey to a remote area of Saratok. We came across a river where the water was a little bit black-coloured and did not appear to be a good habitat for aquatic plants. Nevertheless, we decided to go down to the river to look for fish and aquatic plants. We found a jungle trail running along the river. At first the water was too deep, so we hiked through the bushes to a shallower part of the river. When I walked across the river I was surprised to see Egeria densa. I was surprised it can grow well in this kind of habitat.
At that time, I did not notice that there was something about 3 to 4 metres away from where I saw Egeria densa.(Later I found out it was Cryptocoryne bullosa !!!) We walked further to the upper part of the river but there was nothing there, so we decided to turn back. On the way back to where we parked our car, I saw a stream. The water was running fast and there were a lot of rocks in the river bed, with mosses and some plants growing on the rocks. It looked like a bonsai garden. Then I saw something growing in the water - a Cryptocoryne plant! This was the first time I saw Cryptocorynes growing on a rocky surface!! At first I thought it was Cryptocoryne bullosa, but upon examining the leaf, I discovered that it was not a crinkled leaf. It was the most common Cryptocoryne in Borneo, Cryptocoryne striolata !
Suddenly it started raining heavily. We went to hide under a tree. We were wet and tired but were so happy because we never been to such a remote place like this before. When the rain stopped, we walked back to the spot where we found Egeria densa. Andrew was in front of me and he did not notice anything under his feet, but I was stunned when I noticed something in front of me. It was a cluster of aquatic plants in which the leaf is almost black-coloured! It was Cryptocoryne bullosa! Luckily my eyes were sharp enough to see this black-coloured Cryptocoryne bullosa. I was really surprised to see two species of Cryptocoryne in the same river within 500 metres.
After collecting the Crypts, we headed north to Sarekei town. We paid a visit to our friends in Sarekei and Bintangor. They were happy to see us and invited us to dine at their home. It was raining cats and dogs but we could feel the warmth of the hospitality of our host in our hearts.
February 13th
After more than half an hour, we saw a beautiful slightly black-coloured river. There were some hair grasses growing on the river bank. We went down to the river and we saw a cluster of Cryptocoryne auriculata growing in the shade. The water was a little bit polluted as there are villagers living up river. (Local folks treat the river as a dumping ground for rubbish and sewage). Luckily the Crypts can still survive.
On the way down to Kuching, we saw a signboard "Locality Plan" near Betong town. It was a simple map which showed there are some jungle trails in the remote area of Betong. We turned our car into a small road marked on the signboard as "Spak Clearwater River Adventure."
We passed by the yellow-coloured Sungai Layar. It was a hilly road and a big portion is still under construction. We will come back to explore this area. We stopped at a small stream on the way back. I caught a lot of bumblebee gobies in this stream but I released most of them.
On the way down to Seri Aman, we stopped at a clearwater river. I caught Rasbora sumatrana, Puntius banksi, Puntius kuchingensis, Nemachilus saravacensis, Hemirhamphodon pogonognathus, Homaloptera sp., Nandus nebulosus and wood shrimp. I could not find any Borneo suckers in this fast running water.
Suddenly Andrew saw a fish hiding behind small rock. I took away the rock and I was shocked to see it was a wild fighting fish! It swam away to hide when I wanted to catch it. I caught a juvenile at the riverbank few minutes later. I could not identified it but I could see that it was not the common Betta ibanorum as it had green-coloured cheeks! I moved to an upper part of the river and caught a mouthbrooding male betta hiding under the submerged tree root ....and I was very sure it was my favourite Betta taeniata! A few minutes later, I caught another mouthbrooding male betta on the same spot.
It was a fruitful day. I will be back to those areas I visited before in the future to search for new species of fish and aquatic plant. Go to: Rivers of Sarawak Or, back to Part I of this series: Kuhli Loaches Cast a Magic Spell on Me! |
