"Ornithology of Sabah: History, Gazetteer, Annotated Checklist and Bibliography" by Sheldon, F. H. et al. (2001)

Ornithology of Sabah: History, Gazetteer, Annotated Checklist and Bibliography. Sheldon, F. H., R. G. Moyle & J. Kennard, 2001. Ornithological Monographs 52, American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. vi + 285 pp. USD 25.00. Without ISBN number.
































Occupying the north part of the island of Borneois Malaysian state of Sabah. Due to its unique geographic location, Borneo is one of the nerve centres of biodiversity. However, sadly, biodiversity of Sabah, as of Southeast Asia, is poorly studied. This sad reality remains despite the fact that habitat destruction in Southeast Asia has been unprecedented in recent times. Sound biological knowledge, in my mind, is needed for effective conservation. Any monograph on the birds of Sabah should therefore be good news. However, when I received a copy of this monographs, two thoughts came to my mind. First, I thought -not another book on birds of Southeast Asia! There are numerous books (field guides) on the birds of Southeast Asia -most of them are scientifically useless as they often lack adequate information on the bird biology. Second, I thought that anybody could compile the available information. As I show below, both of my thoughts were wrong.

This monograph is divided into five parts: introduction, history, gazetteer, annotated checklist and bibliography. Included in introduction are physical, geographical and habitat features of Sabah. Also included are critical analyses on evolution, ecology, behaviour and conservation. These four parts make this monograph apart from traditional field guides that I was mentioning earlier. As mentioned, all these chapters are critically written. In addition to succinctly summarizing the current state of knowledge, they point the readers towards the areas that potential researchers can home in. Probably because of lack of information, ecology and behaviour section dwell on Bornean birds than specifically on Sabahan birds.

The authors point out the biological benefits of strategically placing agricultural plantations. Such examples show that both conservation and exploitation can be and should be effectively balanced. All survey sites in Sabah are mapped with geographic coordinates given for most of them. This I admit is a mammoth task in its own particularly because the sites have Malay names and would have been difficult to map. In my mind, the most valuable part of this book is the species descriptions. When available, data on the species' biology are presented. Such information will be particularly useful for future studies such as those comparing guild compositions among sites.

Anybody interested in Southeast Asian birds should own this monograph. With this work, the stage is set for more quantitative ornithological research in Sabah. I have a number of wishes. First, I hope that similar monographs are published for other regions such as Sarawak and Java. Second, I hope that ornithological research in Southeast Asia takes a leap from traditional survey work. Last, governments in the region provide conducive environment for scientific research - unknown biodiversity cannot be protected adequately.

Navjot S. Sodhi
Department of Biological Sciences
National University of Singapore
Blk S2. 14 Science Drive 4
Singapore 117543
Republic of Singapore

First published in The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Vol. 50(2): 511 on 31 Dec 2002

"The Indo-Pacific scyllarine lobsters (Crustacea, Decapoda, Scyllaridae) by Holthuis, L. B. (2002)

The Indo-Pacific scyllarine lobsters (Crustacea, Decapoda, Scyllaridae). Holthuis, L. B., 2002. Zoosystema, 24(3): 499-683. Publications Scientifiques du Museum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. ISSN 1280-9551.

The flathead lobsters of the family Scyllaridae are very diverse, and of the four recognised subfamilies, the Scyllarinae has the most species. Until this revision, this subfamily had only one very speciose genus, Scyllarus Fabricius, 1775, its members occurring in all the major oceans. Within the Indo-Pacific, identifying Scyllarus species has always been a major problem, with 41 available names. The present revision solves this headache. The present author is the acknowledged world expert on lobsters, and has worked on them for decades. Already, he has reorganised the subfamilies within the Scyllaridae and has revised the Ibacinae (see Holthuis, L. B., 1985: A revision of the family Scyllaridae (Crustacea: Decapoda: Macrura). I. Subfamily Ibacinae. Zoologische Verhandelingen, Leiden, No. 218: 1-130), but the one group for which a revision was most needed was without doubt the Indo-Pacific Scyllarinae. In fact, the roots of the present revision were planted over 40 years ago, and it has taken that long for it to be finally finished. But the wait has certainly been worth it. The author shows that the genus Scyllarus s. str. is restricted to the Atlantic and Mediterranean; and establishes 13 new genera for the species from the Indo-Pacific. In the process, he also describes eight new species. The largest Indo-Pacific genus is now his new genus, Eduarctus, with seven species. Almost all the species are described and figured in detail, with colour figures provided for 12 taxa. Habitat, depth and larval data is provided and discussed whenever possible. Two monotypic genera, Antarctus and Antipodarctus, however, were only briefly diagnosed, the full treatment of these southern ocean species been left to John Yaldwyn of New Zealand. One regret would be that the author has not revised Scyllarus s. str. as well and sorted out the problems within it. As things stand, this task will almost certainly have to be taken up by his successor (whoever he or she may be).

Noteworthy is also that the journal ZOOSYSTEMA is now taking on large monographs like Holthuis’ present masterpiece on the Scyllarinae. This journal has had a very long history and throughout most of the last few decades, has been better known to its users as the BULLETIN DU MUSEUM NATIONALE D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE, 4th SERIE, SECTION A, ZOOLOGIE, PARIS. In its new format and name, which is now past its fifth year, the journal has had a timely revival and is set to carry on the excellent traditions and roles of its predecessors.

Peter K. L. Ng
Department of Biological Sciences
National University of Singapore
Kent Ridge, Singapore 119260, Republic of Singapore
Email: dbsngkl@nus.edu.sg

First published in The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Vol. 51(1): 174 on 30 Jun 2003.

"Sri Lanka Freshwater Fauna and Fisheries" by Fernando, C. H. & S. R. Weerewardhena (2002)

Sri Lanka Freshwater Fauna and Fisheries. Fernando, C. H. & S. R. Weerewardhena, 2002. A Third Millenium Book, Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Volumes Publishing, Kitchener, Canada. ISBN 955-97697-0-7. Orders to the authors at chfernan@scibiol.uwaterloo.ca or zoosrw@kln.ac.lk

This weighty tome - 634 A4 pages – landed on my desk with a resounding thump. Its heft is due not only to physical bulk. C. Herbert Fernando, the senior author, has half a century of experience in tropical limnology, and is indisputably one of the founding fathers of this research area. The book is subtitled ‘A guide to the freshwater fauna and the genesis of inland fisheries’ and is made up of a number of papers by Fernando and his collaborators published between 1956 and 2002. There is only one item in the book that has not appeared elsewhere, and it the only paper that features the two authors. The original papers do not seem to have been modified in any way. The lack of editing means that there are some redundancies in the text, but the difficulty of obtaining some of Fernando’s original papers means that a reprint of this type is welcome. It is also helpful to have these papers bound collated into a single volume. I stress here that this volume is by no means a full representation of Fernando’s prodigious output.

A particular pleasure is to come across Mendis & Fernando’s seminal guide to the freshwater fauna of Sri Lanka (then, of course, called Ceylon). This 160-page paper is in itself a small book. It covers all major groups, from protozoa to otters, and is illustrated by the many delightful hand drawings of G.D. Kariyawasam. (My particular favourite is a picture of the Stork-billed kingfisher, Pelargopsis capensis.) I have my own, now rather dog-eared original of this paper and got a great deal of use out of it when I first started working in Asia. Of course, it is incomplete, and really only fully applicable to Sri Lanka, but it is an example of what is possible when a couple of young scientists decide to develop a tool that will help others make sense of a poorly known fauna. This first attempt was followed, over the years, but five supplements, each written by Fernando, plus papers on rotifers and copepods co-authored with collaborators. The fifth supplement was specially prepared by this volume by Fernando and Weerawardhena, and brings knowledge of the fauna up to date. Nomenclatural changes are taken into account also. As might be expected from Fernando’s own research interests in the group, zooplankton are particularly well covered in this volume. But this group aside, it is
probably true to say that the freshwater fauna of Sri Lanka is as well known, or perhaps better known, than any other tropical country of an equivalent size. There is still plenty to do, however. The Chironomidae (Diptera), for instance, are very poorly known but the family is likely to be highly species rich.

Papers that describe the development of freshwater fisheries in Sri Lanka, primarily reservoir fisheries, take up the rest of the book. These are based mainly upon the exploitation of exotic tilapias (sensu lato), there being no native fishes adapted to lacustrine habitats. This fact has encouraged Fernando to expound on his politically-incorrect view that exotic species can, under certain conditions, be valuable additions to local faunas (especially on pages 621 & 622). He quotes Charles Elton’s classic 1958 monograph on biological invasions (Elton, 1958) in support of this opinion, proposing that conservation should involve enhancing biological variety in as many places as possible, even if that means the addition of exotics. Moreover, Fernando thinks that that exotic species are not always threats to native biodiversity, suggesting that worldwide cultivation of chickens has reduced the pressure to harvest wild birds. There is something to be said for his views. Exotics have been and are being introduced throughout Asia in an unplanned, ad hoc manner. It may be better to accept that some exotics will arrive anyway, and manage or facilitate the introduction species that are least likely to impact native biotas. Many readers may disagree with Fernando’s view, but the evidence that he has assembled deserves careful consideration. Certainly, it should not be dismissed out of hand. I confess that as a native biodiversity chauvinist (i.e. native = good; introduced = bad), this was my initial reaction.

This volume contains a lot of useful information. However, some of it is hard to locate. A frustrating feature, although an understandable one considering its genesis, is the lack of an overall index. There are three partial indexes, which cover pages 162-422 and 445-485, and the contents of the original Mendis & Fernando paper. The third of these is well done, but a test of the first revealed that it was incomplete. From page 507 onwards there is no indexing at all. In order to find entries on a given taxon, the reader has to consult all three indices, but even then cannot be confident that a useful nugget of information hasn’t been missed.

On the back cover, the subtitle is slightly different from that on the frontispiece, and is given as ‘A guide to the freshwater fauna of Sri Lanka and a genesis of the fisheries’. The blurb goes on to say ‘ ... this is the only comprehensive book on the freshwater fauna and fisheries of any county in the world. It was written and updated over a period of nearly 50 years’. Need I say more?

LITERATURE CITED
Elton, C. S., 1958. The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants. Chapman & Hall, London. 181 pp.

David Dudgeon
Department of Ecology & Biodiversity,
The University of Hong Kong,
Hong Kong SAR,
China.

First published in The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Vol. 51(1): 173-174 on 30 Jun 2003.

"Chek Jawa Guidebook" by Tan, R. & A. Yeo (eds.) (2003)

Chek Jawa Guidebook. Tan, R. & A. Yeo (eds.), 2003, (website: www.wildsingapore.com.sg), in association with The Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, The National University of Singapore. (website: rmbr.nus.edu.sg). Published by Simply Green, Singapore (website:
www.simplygreen.co.sg). Photographs by Alan Yeo. Containing more than 400 full-colour photographs with over 100 explanatory diagrams.iv + 219 pages of jargon–free text with worksheet elements. SGD 18.00. ISBN 981-04-8832.

































I mentally groaned when Peter Ng slid Chek Jawa guidebook across my bench space at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and asked me to review it for The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. My attitude was simply due to my own inadequacies - just how does an outsider communicate the significance of this pocket-sized book on a single sheet of A4 paper? Let’s start with the question: what exactly is Chek Jawa? Well it is the easternmost coastline of a small island named Pulau Ubin, off the mainland of Singapore, in the Johor Straits, at the mouth of the Johor river (pages 6-7). The biological treasures of the shallow tidal flats off the village of Chek Jawa lay hidden and protected by sandbars. Until as recently as 2001 that is when the Singaporean Government announced advanced plans to reclaim this coastline, which basically means the Urban Redevelopment Authority wanted to bury it in sand, tonnes of sand. Chek Jawa became a focal point, not of extreme protesting greenies, but reasoned ordinary citizens that were not prepared to lose more of its dwindling natural heritage. A transect study conducted on the 22 August 2001 along the Chek Jawa coastline identified seven species of seagrass and 28 species of seaweed. At the same time, staff from the Raffles Museum conducted a number of outings for the public before the area was lost for ever. Lectures were organised to educate the public and articles written for Nature Watch and Asian Geographic. Ria Tan and Alan Yeo, together with many other supporters worked tirelessly to save a small but beautiful stretch of coastline. Christmas came early in December 2001, on the 21st to be precise, a reprieve came just days before the reclamation work was due to start. This was unprecedented considering the amount of time and money already spent on the proposed project. The beach at Chek Jawa will be left in peace for at least ten years.

Chek Jawa may masquerade as a guidebook on the outside, but for the adventurous I suggest you search the tome from cover to cover because there can be found all the jewels of the east. The pages literately ooze collaboration and in a nutshell it is biodiversity of the people, by the people for the people. There is obviously a strong community spirit projected from within. Much thought was given to the format and presentation of the book, so much so that I understand that publication was delayed for over a year to ensure that its was user friendly (jargon–free text!). Ria and Alan have certainly achieved this and in my opinion got it right. The penned illustrations, mostly by Ria, are magnificent combining accurate biological fact and humour with simplicity, while Alan has supported the text with a multitude of excellent natural history photographs. Further contributions have come from the biodiversity graduate students of the NUS Department of Biological Sciences, staff of The Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, and various other experts and volunteers, who have all breathed a unique kind of life into the guidebook. For example page 19 is entitled “Preparing for your visit” [to Chek Jawa]. Practical advice is given; wear a hat if it’s a sunny day, bring water, don’t walk barefoot and much more. Further I liked the two pages comprising “What’s that?!!”. A considerable amount of thought has been given to explaining the complex subject of taxonomy. This text here is not the stodgy pudding of school dinners; instead it is well thought out, light enjoyable reading and comprises the real ingredients of further education. The project editors are to be congratulated on their fine achievement. In fact, by the time my review is published, Chek Jawa Guidebook will have received the Environment book award sponsored by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) at the Asian Geographical “Celebrate the Sea” event in Kuala Lumpur, August 2003. It is well deserved.

Chek Jawa is alive at present, but remember it is only under a temporary reprieve.

Paul F. Clark
Department of Zoology
The Natural History Museum
Cromwell Road
London SW7 5BD
England

First published in The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Vol. 51(2): 429 on 31 Dec 2003.