Reassessing fish diversity of Penang Island's freshwaters (northwest Peninsular Malaysia) through a molecular approach raises questions on its conservation status.

Autor: Jamaluddin, Jamsari Amirul Firdaus, Lavoué, Sébastien, Alshari, Norli Fauzani Mohd Abu Hassan, Ghazali, Siti Zafirah binti, Ahmad, Amirrudin, Tan, Allen, Leng, Cheok Lay, Mohd Nor, Siti Azizah
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Zdroj: Biodiversity & Conservation; May2022, Vol. 31 Issue 5/6, p1551-1576, 26p
Abstrakt: The island of Penang lying off the northwestern coast of Peninsular Malaysia, is one of the historical places for ichthyological exploration in Southeast Asia and the type locality of three freshwater species and one euryhaline species. Freshwater ecosystems on the island are currently threatened by multiple causes. To facilitate further environmental-oriented monitoring actions, we reexamined the fish diversity by surveying several freshwater localities across the island. All collected specimens were vouchered, morphologically identified and then genetically characterized using the "Barcode" fragment of the cytochrome oxidase I gene. We collected a total of 52 fish species, including 37 (21 native + 16 introduced) strictly-adapted freshwater species. Five native and 10 introduced species represent new records for the island. Genetic analyses revealed low cryptic diversity within morphologically identified species. Combining our results with those of previous surveys, a total of 63 fish species are now known from Penang freshwaters, however, five native species were not collected in the last 60 years and their conservation status is certainly at risk on the island. Overall, the presence of many introduced species along with the general degradation of freshwater habitats of Penang Island threaten its native fish diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Databáze: Complementary Index
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