Worryingly fascinating species estimates...

Fascinatingly, I have just calculated the expected species total for TARP based on an apparently robust Coral Fish Diversity Index (CFDI - see p.46 of the Raja Ampat report) devised by Gerry Allen (calculated by adding together species in six Index families - ACANTHURIDAE, CHAETODONTIDAE, LABRIDAE, POMACANTHIDAE, POMACENTRIDAE, SCARIDAE & multiplying the resulting CFDI by 3.39, and then subtracting 20.6). Given my CFDI for TARP of 104, I predict a total of 332 fish species in the park (i.e. 33 to see; 31 if you include the Whale shark and accompanying Pilot fish filmed recently by Mark Hedger).

Worryingly however, Allen also mentions in a table on p.48 of the Raja Ampat report that surveys in TARP (I believe he was referring to his own unpublished survey made in 1992 of which I can not find a copy) gave a CFDI of 139 with an estimated fish species richness of 450 (against 357 actual species he found which he puts down to incomplete sampling). I don't want to believe the implication that 25% of 1992's fish species no longer exist in TARP. I'd prefer to believe that I am simply an incompetent and amateurish fish-watcher, because if not, what will the future bring for TARP?

1 out, 299 down

A useful e-mail came in a couple of days ago which I've just been able to process - namely, POMACENTRIDAE authority Gerry Allen has noted that my adult Pomacentrus grammorhynchus was in fact a juvenile Pomacentrus tripunctatus en route to becoming an adult. My juvenile P. grammorhynchus photos were already somewhat suspect for having such tiny granules of blue on the top of the tail base. "Discretion is the better part of valour," as Falstaff has noted (Henry IV Part 1) and I have decided to withdraw P. grammorhynchus from my TARP fish checklist for the time being; hence the total I have seen till now drops back below 300, to 299. Tantalisingly, the juveniles may represent another species not yet on my checklist but until confirmed, I'll leave them out of it.

I have also amended the foldable checklist.

Checklist improved

As well as several corrections, the first draft checklist has now been amended to include the original species author's name, the year the description was first published, and a link to a bibliographical reference to the original, given by Eschmeyer.

Furthermore, most species now also have a link inserted directly to their relevant FishBase page (a number of mirror sites exist around the world and I have tended just to link to the easiest to connect to from my location at the moment I created the link - this can vary but all sites are mirrors of each other anyway; in general I find the Philippines home server for FishBase the least reliable connection so I usually use either the Taiwan mirror or the Swedish mirror).

Five panels amended

It's inevitable that the first draft of this collection would have mistakes: two careless ones have recently been corrected (Pholidichthys leucotaenia picked up the wrong Species name first time round when a previous panel was used as a template - I had mistakenly let it slip through as P. fasciatus; additionally, I missed out a letter when transcribing Ctenogobiops pomastictus first allowing it to be C. pomasticus). More important is to rename a fish originally identified by an apparently junior synonym: what I said was Halichoeres purpurescens appears more appropriately named Halichoeres leucurus (search Eshmeyer to compare). I have corrected this (as per the example shown here) in both the Initial and Terminal phases. The knock on effect has been the need to change a comment under the Initial phase form of Halichoeres melanurus which made reference to H. purpurescens.

Incidentally, a number of other fish face a similar predicament (Eshmeyer versus FishBase) but I have left them alone for now firstly because there is only one entry in FishBase for them so there should be no confusion - FishBase tends anyway to default to its preferred name when a species search is done (whereas there are entries for both H. leucurus AND H. purpursecens so I wanted to clarify my association), and secondly because in most cases the difference is just the Species suffix which technically according to the ICZN should match the gender of the Genus but FishBase appears to favour the original suffix given when the fish was first named, whilst Eschmeyer appears to have attempted to correct the suffixes of Species as their Genera evolve).

Checklist now on-line

To the right of this blog panel, you should see a link to a foldable checklist of the fish species I have seen in Tunku Abdul Rahman Park. I hope to add further features to this checklist in due course, such as links to relevant FishBase pages or other material I have used to help me with identification.

11 more fish added

The 29th of April 2008 was a gorgeous, calm sea-ed, blue sky-ed day; perfect for snorkelling in the first part of the morning before the sun became overwhelming. Sapi Island has some lovely snorkelling and sure enough, I was able to turn up 10 more species of fish. Some of these - particularly the Needlefish and Moonyfish around the jetty - were unsurprising since I knew they were there and hadn't seen them elsewhere but hadn't previously photographed them. Some of the shallower species which are encountered less often in a dive were on good display too (such as the Stethojulis representatives), so I have updated photos for a few species too.

The recent business of sorting through my photos has also drawn my attention to a previously unrecognised species (Rhabdamia cypselurus) in a photo from back in November 2007. So in total, I have now reached, and uploaded, 300 fish species descriptions in Tunku Abdul Rahman Park!

Another 8 species identified

The night dives on 22nd April have proved highly productive: 8 more species on top of the previous total brings me to 289 fish species identified in the park. I know there are a few more species to add from a recent snorkelling trip too but I haven't analysed my photos properly yet.

This Stargazer was a real beauty though. What an ugly face!