JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca UNIVERSITI KEBANGSAAN MALAYSIA The Resiliency of Archerfish in Malaysian Estuaries by Mazlan A.G., Simon K.D. & Arshad A. 1

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Contents Introduction Materials and methods Results and discussion Conclusion References  5 main heading

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Introduction  Archer Fish There are seven species in the genus Toxotes, commonly referred to as archer fish They are remarkably accurate in their shooting for feeding Occur in fresh, brackish and marine water; from India to Philippines, Australia and Polynesia. Toxotes jaculatrix and Toxotes chatareus are two common species in Malaysia. 3

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca The two species T. chatareus T. jaculatrix 4

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Associate with mangroves since devonian! What factors ensuring their resiliency? 5

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Feeding technique ? i.e Trophodynamic Reproductive Strategies? 6

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Taxonomic position Kingdom : Animalia Phylum : Chordata Subphylum : Vertebrata Class : Actinopterygii Order : Perciformes Family : Tetrodontidae Genus : Toxotes Species : T. chatareus & T. jaculatrix 7

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Objectives of the research 1. To carry out morphometric and meristic study of T. chatareus and T. jaculatrix. 2. To determine the diet of T. chatareus and T. jaculatrix. 3. To determine the age composition and growth rate of T. chatareus and T. jaculatrix 4. To study some reproductive biology aspect of T. chatareus and T. jaculatrix 4 Objectives 8

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Materials and Methods Research activities Stomach content analysis Morphometric & Meristic counts Laboratories Reproductive biology Age determination Sample collection Weight Measuring length Preserved in formalin/ alcohol Water quality analysis Field / Sampling sites 9

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Sampling sites Site 1 = Matang Mangrove Forest, Perak Site 2 = South Johore Mangrove Forest, Johor 10

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Fish collection by different nets Cast net Skimming net Gill net 11

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Laboratory works Dissect Fish Estimate the annual fecundity Morphometric & meristic analysis Stomach Preserved in Gilson fluid Scales Liver Otolith Archer fish Age determination Separate Internal organs Gonad 12

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Morphometric study Length measurement scale Weighing scale TL FL SL PDL PCL OL ED PAL PVL SNL DCP 13

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Stomach content analysis Weighing & measuring Dissection Preserved in 70% Alcohol Identify the contents using microscope Length & Full stomach weight Empty stomach weight Stomach content weight Trophodynamic analysis Stomach 14

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Results and discussion  The form of the equation is: Where, WT, is total weight (g), TL, is total length (cm), and a and b are constants for each species. (WT) = a (TL) b  Length weight relationship 15

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Total catch, length and weight of two archer fish species SpeciesTotal catch (N) Length (cm)Weight (g) Max.Min.Max.Min. T. chatareus T. jaculatrix

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Length weight relationships of T. chatareus fish species 17

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Length weight relationships of T. jaculatrix fish species 18

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Regression parameters o f 2 species SpeciesRegression Parameters as.e.b r2r2 T. Chatareus T. jaculatrix

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Meristic Analysis Species DFRPCFRPVFRAFRCFRDSASPSLLS T. chatareus Species DFRPCFRPVFRAFRCFRDSASPSLLS T. Jaculatrix

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Meristic study Absent 5 th dorsal spine Present T. chatareus T. jaculatrix 21

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Stomach content of T. chatareus & T. jaculatrix Insecta Crustacean 22

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Trophic level of T. chatareus 23

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Trophic level of T. jaculatrix 24

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Number of full and empty T. chatareus stomachs by size category 25

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Number of full and empty T. jaculatrix stomachs by size category 26

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Number of Preys ingested by T. chatareus according to size category 27

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Number of Preys ingested by T. jaculatrix according to size category 28

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Prey items observed in Archer fish stomachs SpeciesPrey categoryNW% WtnFow Crustaceans T. chatareusCrab Shrimp/Prawn Insects Formicidae Dytiscidae Araneidae Cerambycidae Teleosts Total Crustaceans Crab T. jaculatrixShrimp/Prawn Insects Formicidae Dytiscidae Araneidae Cerambycidae Teleosts Toxotidae Total

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Conclusion  Both species indicates allometric negative (b<3) growth condition  Stomach content and trophic level analysis denoted that T. chatareus and T. jaculatrix are strongly carnivorous  Feeding priority Crustaceans=Insects> Teleosts 30

JSPS Nat. Coordinator Meeting 18 – 20 May ’08 Renaissance Hotel Malacca Thanks to all for listening 31