Mangrove As A Bioindicator.....

for pollution in our water. So what actually happened?

Today, I attended a Mangrove workshop conducted by Dr Jean Yong at RMBR. He had gone to Lim Chu Kang to collect some Bakau Minyak (Rhizophora apiculata) for today's workshop. The first thing that he showed us was this;


Hmmm...I have never seen a pinkish mangrove seedling before...what could it be?

Dr Yong told us that this is a mutated mangrove seedling. This is an INDICATION by the mangrove that the water in that area is NOT Good! It is POLLUTED! It could be due to oil leakage or heavy metals contaimination in the water.

As the fruits of this tree start develop and grow while they are still attached to the parent tree. Dr Yong said it's like a pregnant mother exposing to bad stuffs (eg radiation/second-hand smoking) and the baby gets affected. Thus, the baby of this tree has mutated as the parent tree is being exposed to pollutants.

Here's a pic showing a mutated seedling and a healthy one which should be green.

Who Am I ?.....

This is the teeny-weeny Sap-sucking Sea Slug that I have came across at Cyrene last month.

Dr Bill Rudman of The Sea Slug Forum has kindly IDed it as Elysia cf. japonica.

However, he also mentioned that it is still not sure if this slug is a colour forms of Elysia japonica or Elysia abei.

Of Dwarfs And A Giant.....

Went for an intertidal trip to Pulau Jong today. Tide was not that low but we managed to land safely somehow.

Saw many small/tiny nudibranch/slugs. They are about 0.5cm to about 2cm. Here they are:


Couple of these Sap-sucking Sea Slugs (Elysia sp.) among the seaweeds.


A small Dermatobranchus nudibranch (Dermatobranchus sp.)


A small Phyllidiella nudibranch. Looks like Phyllidiella pustulosa.


A slightly bigger Phyllidiella nudibranch. It's Phyllidiella nigra.

And I saw plenty of Gymnodoris nudibranch among the Seaweeds! Probably there are two different species here.



So much so, I think there's even one on the above Phyllidiella nigra. Can you see it?



Besides these tiny creatures, there's also a Giant.


A Giant Clam that is.


And a closer look at its mantle. Isn't it beautiful?

I Am The Orange One.....

The bright orange nudibranch that I came across during The Hantu Bloggers dive in August has been IDed.

Dr Bill Rudman from The Sea Slug Forum has IDed it as the color form of Phestilla melanobrachia. This nudibranch comes in Black too.

It is believed that the colour of the nudibranch matches the colour of the dendrophylliid coral (Tubastrea, Dendrophyllia) on which they are feeding. Hmmm.....so will the black one turn orange after feeding?

At Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve Today.....

I came across this Cutie!


Awwwww.....So Cuteeee!