Freshwater fishes (Actinopterygii) of Kenyir Reservoir, Peninsular Malaysia: Updated checklist, taxonomic concerns and alien species

Abstract

A total of 87 freshwater fish species from 30 families were recorded from the Kenyir Reservoir, Peninsular Malaysia, where 75 are native and 12 are introduced species. Few species still have unstable taxonomy identities which urge further studies. Most of the species were categorised as Least Concern (LC) and two were threatened species; Endangered and Critically Endangered (EN and CR). One introduced species, Gambusia affinis is widespread in the human-associated area, while other introduced fish species can be considered low in numbers. Twenty five fish species are recorded for the first time in the Kenyir Reservoir.

Integrative taxonomy of the featherback fish genus Chitala (Osteoglossomorpha: Notopteridae) in Peninsular Malaysia

“…Our study validates the presence of Chitala lopis in Peninsular Malaysia. It is likely that most of the previous records of Chitala from this region referred to this species, regardless of the species names used (Aqmal-Naser et al, 2023;Herre & Myers, 1937;Khan et al, 1996;Ng et al, 2019;Shaharom, 2012), because Chitala lopis is broadly distributed throughout Peninsular Malaysia. In some drainages, it is the only species of Chitala.…”

“…lopis (Ng et al, 2019), Chitala ornata (Zakaria-Ismail et al, 2019), and Chitala cf. lopis (Aqmal-Naser et al, 2023). This reflects the persisting uncertainty regarding the number and identity of Chitala species in Peninsular Malaysia.…”