Aspideretes nigricans was long thought to be one of the rarest turtle species of the world, being restricted to a single site in Bangladesh; its specific distinctness was repeatedly doubted. Using mtDNA sequence data of all four Aspideretes species, we provide evidence that A. nigricans is a distinct species that is sister to A. hurum. Furthermore, A. nigricans is not endemic to Bangladesh, but also occurs in Assam, India. While all applied phylogenetic analyses (Bayesian Analysis, Maximum Likelihood, Maximum Parsimony, Neighbor Joining) strongly suggest a well‐supported clade containing the four Aspideretes species and Nilssonia formosa, the monophyly of Aspideretes is at best weakly supported. We propose to synonymise the genera Aspideretes Hay, 1904 and Nilssonia Gray, 1872, resulting in an expanded genus Nilssonia with the species N. formosa (Gray, 1869), N. gangetica (Cuvier, 1825), N. hurum (Gray, 1831), N. leithii (Gray, 1872) and N. nigricans (Anderson, 1875). Genetic structure within N. nigricans is weak, while we detected two distinct genetic lineages within N. gangetica, one occurring in the Brahmaputra River system and the other in the Ganges and Indus River basins.

Lie S, Suyoko A, Effendi AR, Ahmada B, Aditya HW, Sallima IR, Arisudewi NPAN, Hadid NI, Rahmasari N, Reza A. 2018. Measurement of microplastic density in the Karimunjawa National Park, Central Java, Indonesia. Ocean Life 2: 54-58. Plastic debris enters the marine ecosystem in various sizes, ranging from micrometers to millimeters. Specific densities of plastic particles can vary greatly depending on the type of polymer and the manufacturing process. The highest microplastic density is usually related to the shoreline and circulation of currents in the middle of the sea. Microplastics are then degraded into fragments or particles that are very small and digested by marine biota. In recent years, there have been increasing environmental concerns about microplastics. The purpose of this study was to determine the types of microplastics and their density in the Karimunjawa Island region, and to determine the environmental impact of microplastics. The method used was sediment sampling, with sand samples taken at a depth of 2-5 cm from the sand surface in a plot that was 10 meters away, with another plot in a 50-meter straight line. After that, microplastics were separated from sand samples in the laboratory using saturated saline solution. Next, the microplastics identification process was carried out by differentiating based on color, size, number, and microplastic form or category. In this study, four types of microplastic were found, i.e. fiber, fragment, film, and foam. At Legon Lele Beach and Ujung Gelam, fiber was the most abundant with 111 and 66 particles, respectively. The least in number was film- with 6 particles in Ujung Gelam Beach and 3 particles in Legon Lele Beach.

Despite its status as District-Based Marine Protected Area, studies pertaining coral reef biodiversity never been conducted in Olele that located in the Gulf of Tomini, biodiversity hotspot in the Coral Triangle. Hence, we aims to investigate diversity, distribution and abundance of scleractinian coral, underpinning the health of reef ecosystems. This study was conducted using Line Intercept Transect on three research stations which were divided into three main zonations, reef flat (3 m depth), upper reef slope (10 m depth) and reef slope (18 m to 20 m depth). Fifty meters long transect were laid in each zonation, thus total transect were nine. The results showed that there were 35 species of scleractinian coral from 12 families. Each zonation has a different pattern of abundance and dominant life form. Based on coral health assessment using Coral Mortality Index (CMI) and the ratio between living and dead coral coverage, coral reef ecosystems in Olele were in healthy condition with the range value 0.29 ± 0.1 and 3.60 ± 1.14. This preliminary study should be used as a basic reference for database and novel direction of conservation management strategy in District-Based Marine Protected Area Olele.

Abstract. Mawarni A, Azizah FNN, Sartika HW, Hadisusanto S, Putri DM, Reza A. 2020. Short Communication: Community of Phytoplankton in peatland canal, Riau, and wet dune slacks of Parangtritis, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 21: 1874-1879. The ecosystems of peatland canal and wet dune slacks have specific characteristics for phytoplankton community. This study aimed to elaborate on the distribution and abundance of phytoplankton community in peatland canal of Sungai Tohor Village, Meranti Islands, Riau and wet dune slacks of Parangtritis, Special Region of Yogyakarta. Phytoplankton was collected using a 2-L modified Van Dorn water sampler. In peatland, canal phytoplankton was sampled at 3 different locations, each with 5 repetitions. Meanwhile, in wet dune slacks, phytoplankton was sampled at 5 locations, each with 3 repetitions. Phytoplankton samples were filtered with Wisconsin plankton-net 120 mesh and fixed with 3 drops of formaldehyde 4%. The measured physical and chemical factors were air temperature, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, alkalinity, carbon dioxide, pH, depth, transparency, nitrate, sulfate, and phosphate concentration. The results showed that the distribution and abundance of phytoplankton community in wet dune slacks were greater than those of the peatland community. This research found 18 species of phytoplankton in peatland canal, dominated by Synedra acus and 116 species of phytoplankton in wet dune slacks, dominated by Cyclotella meneghiniana.

Bogowonto Lagoon has the largest mangrove ecosystem in southern coast of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Several activities on mangrove restoration have been conducted to escalate this remnant mangrove forest area. Conversely, rapid increase of shrimp pond area become threat for mangrove ecosystem in Bogowonto lagoon since the early of 21 st century. Hence, This study is aimed to investigate mangrove composition, distribution and abundance, progress of mangrove restoration program and shrimp pond extensification in 2002 to 2014. Conducted from April 2015 to May 2015, this research consists of several steps namely survey, vegetation analysis, literature study, sociological study using questionnaire, measurement of mangrove and shrimp pond area using Landsat 8 imageries and Arc GIS 10.1. We determined 15 sites along Bogowonto Lagoon using random sampling by quadratic plot (10 m × 10 m for tree, 5 m × 5 m for sapling) and total counts (for seedling). The result showed that there were seven species of mangrove and six species of associate mangrove. Rhizopora mucronata Lamb. was dominant in each growthform with clumped distribution. R. mucronata and Avicennia marina (Forssk.) Vierh. also dominate from backswamp to rivermouth. Satellite imageries revealed that there was a hope due to upward trends of mangrove area in last 12 yr (approximately 5 ha). However, the significant increase sof shrimp pond area (approximately 34 ha) surrounding mangrove area become current and future threat. Based on sociological study, most of people around Bogowonto Lagoon have high awareness, but less participated on mangrove restoration program. Besides, the river mouth covered by sand become another obstacle of it.