FISH

INTRODUCTION Singapore lies in the central region of Southeast Asia and the Indo-west Pacific. The shallow seas and equatorial climate support a wide range of ecosystems like coral reefs and mangrove swamps. The island is flanked in the east by the South China Sea which has over 4,000 species of fish. View of Singapore River an artificial estuarine environment photo: N Sivasothi Sweetlips (Diagramma pictum), rabbitfishes (Siganus guttatus) and snappers (Lutjanus carponotatus) at an artificial reef in the Singapore Straits photo: REST At the time of writing, at least 865 species of marine fish have been recorded from Singapore since the 1800's, but only about 400 of these are of confirmed occurrence. The others consist mainly of species collected from markets and may not actually be found in local waters. This book is not a comprehensive record of the coastal marine fishes of Singapore, but rather is intended more as an introductory guide for students and the nature enthusiast. We hope the reader will find this small and handy guide useful in helping to identify the more common species of fish. However, do not expect to be able to identify every and any fish with this book as only 200 of the more common species are illustrated. We also like to point out that Singapore's marine fish fauna is not well studied, and new records, and even new species of fish are still being discovered. These cardinalfishes (Apogon endekataenia) characterised by a large black blotch at the tail base and reddish stripes on the sides, were photographed in the Singapore Straits photo: REST The fishes covered in this guidebook spend most, if not all of their lives in brackish and saltwater. These are found either in coastal inland drainages or in the sea. There are fishes which can live in the sea, as well as in freshwater. They tend to frequent estuarine areas where the water is brackish, Many species can easily be observed in their natural habitat, especially in tide pools by the beachcomber, and on coral reefs, by the scuba diver or snorkeller. The latter may have a harder time appreciating fishes here as the visibility of local waters is often very poor. The angler sees the fishes that he or his companions catch. Fishes wastefully discarded by anglers on jetties are mostly of the shore-dwelling variety and many of these are illustrated here.

Introduction Coastal Marine Habitats Fishy Trivia Dangerous Fishes Fishes and Man About the guidebook