Taxonomy and distribution of freshwater fish in UiTM Pahang / Norhanis Abd. Halim

On the whole, there are about 449 species of freshwater fish are documented in Malaysia from which only 144 species recorded at Tasik Chini, Pahang. In UiTM Pahang, the previous research data is only available for the reserve forest area. Meanwhile, throughout UiTM Pahang there was still no complete record of the freshwater fish species from the entire area. Therefore, this study had been conducted to identify the number of freshwater fish species, the morphology characteristics of each species and the distribution of freshwater fish in UiTM Pahang. The documentation obtained from this research study can be use as a reference material for future research. The sampling had been done for almost 18 times in which 6 times for each UiTM Pahang Reserve Forest, plantation area and residential. The specimens were collected by using the scoop net and fishing pole. These samples were preserved for future reference. From this research study, 15 species of freshwater fish classified under 11 families had been recorded. The total species collected from the reserve forest, residential area and plantation area are 1, 3 and 13 respectively. As compared to the earlier research, this research had contributed to the discovery of 5 species new to UiTM Pahang. So, the total number of species will be 24. The 5 species newly-recorded to UiTM Pahang are namely Parambasis siamensis, Hypsibarbus wetmorei, Oreochromis mossambicus, Barbonymus gonionotus and Oxyeleotris marmorata. Key characteristics, descriptions and distribution of each species were explained.