Raffles Museum Treasures: Malayan flying fox

Malayan flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus)
Formerly native to Singapore, now visitor

IUCN Red List
ARKive
Cumulative Index for the Mammalian Species
Bats Without Borders: World's Largest Bats Need International Protection


(Photo by AusBatPerson)

Raffles Museum Treasures: Cicada

Cicada (Purana tigrina)
Collected from Kent Ridge, October 2000
Native to Singapore

A revision of the cicadas of the Purana tigrina group (Hemiptera, Cicadidae) in Sundaland


Purana nebulilinea
(Photo by Jacqueline)

Raffles Museum Treasures: Asian softshell turtle

Asian softshell turtle (Amyda cartilaginea)
Collected from Singapore Botanic Gardens, presented to the Museum by H. N. Ridley in September 1898
Native to Singapore: Endangered

Wildlife Singapore
Ecology Asia
Asian Turtle Conservation Network
Turtles of the World
IUCN Red List
ARKive


(Photo by Black Frame Photos)

Raffles Museum Treasures: Six-barred angelfish

Six-barred angelfish (Pomacanthus sexstriatus)
Collected off Sentosa, December 1985
Native to Singapore

A Guide to Common Marine Fishes of Singapore
FishBase


(Photo by Jeffrey)

Woman feeds birds in open field: Can or not?

A woman brought a red plastic bag out to an open field and started feeding the pigeons there. STOMPer Marie spotted her actions and wondered if it was legal for her to do so.

In the STOMPer's email, the STOMPer wrote:

"I saw this woman bring a big red plastic bag and throw the food to the birds.

"Within a few minutes, many birds gathered.

"This occurred at around 3-4 pm beside CCK shopping centre.

"I am just posting this as I am not sure that this is a right thing for her to do."

Raffles Museum Treasures: Giant chiton

Giant chiton (Acanthopleura gemmata )
Native to Singapore: Endangered

Wild Fact Sheets
Singapore Red Data Book
NParks FaunaWeb


(Photo by James)

Irresponsible group of people leaves mess behind in open field

There aren't many wide open spaces left in Singapore and STOMPer Ed is annoyed that a group of people left their trash behind in an open field at Diary Farm.

The annoyed STOMPer wrote:

"A group of irresponsible people left their mess behind after their activities at the open field of Diary Farm!

"A nature lover will not leave their trail behind.

"If this group of people can't uphold this simple value, don't use the park!

Some people never learn, do they?

Here's an example I took at Changi this morning.

Raffles Museum Treasures: Cabbage coral

Cabbage coral (Trachyphyllia geoffroyi)
Collected from reef off Sentosa, November 1979
Native to Singapore

Wild Fact Sheets
IUCN Red List
ARKive
Wet Web Media


(Photo by Ria)

Fallen tree along Macpherson Road blocked morning traffic

This morning, STOMPer Dean got off his bus and walked 15 minutes to his workplace. A tree had fallen along Macpherson Road, blocking traffic.

The STOMPer wrote in an email (Aug 2):

"This tree fell at the junction near Windsor hotel. (close to BP or Caltex station)

"No one was hurt.

"A lot of ppl actually came down from the bus to take pictures like myself.

"I walked about 15 mins to my office in the direction towards Kallang Bahru."

Raffles Museum Treasures: Icon sea star

Icon sea star (Iconaster longimanus)
Collected from Singapore Straits
Native to Singapore: Vulnerable

NParks FaunaWeb
The Echinoblog: Iconaster longimanus: got a starfish? Share it on the Echinoblog!!
Pulau Hantu - A celebration of marine life: Falling Star
World Asteroidea Database
A phylogeny of Iconaster and Glyphodiscus (Echinodermata, Asteroidea, Valvatida, Goniasteridae) with descriptions of four new species


(Photo by Mei Lin)

Monday Morgue: 2nd August 2010

Yellow-banded damselfish (Dischistodus fasciatus)
Tanah Merah, 29th May 2010

Wild Fact Sheets
A Guide to Common Marine Fishes of Singapore
FishBase

Fallen branches in Woodlands due to heavy rains in past week

STOMPer roy cheong spotted two cases of fallen branches in Woodlands due to the heavy rains last week.

He writes in an email:

"I took pictures of two fallen branches within a week after the heavy rain"

Downside to having a green city: Fallen trees after rain cause disruption everywhere

Having our island decorated with greenery can be pleasant but it becomes a burden when trees fall and disrupt daily happenings after a heavy rain, like the one this morning, says STOMPer Roy Tan.

This is the downside of having a green city, says STOMPer Roy Tan, who noted that businesses were disrupted at the Burlington Square and Sim Lim area.

Roy says in an email:

"Four fallen trees/ tree branches made the footpath look like a mini forest.

"One of the trees snapped at its trunk.

"Location: Footpath between Sim Lim Square and Burlington Square.

"Eateries like Fatty Weng Cheong and Hot Spot Cafe affected".

Heavy morning storm topples trees across island

Heavy morning wind and rain sent some trees toppling to the ground across the island today, causing obstruction to many road users.

STOMPer eckman88 saw this huge fallen tree at Admiralty Road West.

The road was inaccessible because the tree lay across the road.

He says:

"Fallen tree again, this time it closed the whole Admiralty Road West."

STOMPer Sam was driving to work when he was too, obstructed by a fallen tree near the Marina Barrage.

Sam says:

"I was driving to work at the Marina Barrage when suddenly I saw that I was blocked by a fallen tree.

"It fell due to the heavy rain in the morning I guess.

"I called up the people from the control room, who subsequently called NEA to help remove the fallen tree.

"Oh dear here we go again; Singapore is facing a big problem yet again".

Another STOMPer fastfastmikey also saw a fallen tree at Commonwealth.

The sender says:

"A fallen tree seen at North Buona Vista Road before Commonwealth Avenue West, blocking one of the lanes".

Raffles Museum Treasures: Brown rat

Brown rat (Rattus norvegicus)
Collected from Devonshire Road, June 1910
Introduced to Singapore: Commensal

Evolution, History and Domestication of the Norway Rat
IUCN Red List
ARKive
Animal Diversity Web
Global Invasive Species Database
Delivering Alien Invasive Species Inventories for Europe


(Photo by andrewsteeleuk)

Raffles Museum Treasures: Oriental river goby

Oriental pond goby (Rhinogobius giurinus)
Introduced to Singapore

In 1966, the naturalist Eric. R Alfred published his monograph, The Fresh-water Fishes of Singapore. In it, he noted the presence of a species of goby, which he identified as Stigmatogobius poicilosoma. This identification was followed in A Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of Singapore, where the "pond goby" was listed as Stigmatogobius poecilosoma. However, closer examination of the specimens that Alfred had looked at revealed that there was a misidentification; the "pond goby" found in Singapore was actually 2 species of stream goby, the big-mouth stream goby (Pseudogobiopsis oligactis) and Siam stream goby (Pseudogobiopsis siamensis). And to further muddle the situation, the fishes in the photos published in A Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of Singapore were actually Oriental river gobies.

It is possible that the Oriental river goby has played a part in the decline and apparent disappearance of the stream gobies from freshwater habitats in Singapore.

Ecology Asia
An annotated checklist of the gobioid fishes of Singapore
Hong Kong Biodiversity Database
FishBase


(Photo by seotaro)

Raffles Museum Treasures: Striped keelback

Striped keelback (Xenochrophis vittatus)
Collected from Choa Chu Kang Road, November 1992
Introduced to Singapore

Ecology Asia


(Photo by Wie146)

Raffles Museum Treasures: Goldfish

Goldfish (Carassius auratus)
Introduced to Singapore

A Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of Singapore
FishBase
Global Invasive Species Database
Animal Diversity Web
Biogeography and evolution of the Carassius auratus-complex in East Asia
FishChannel.com


(Photo by pjakkur007)

Raffles Museum Treasures: Chinese pond mussel

Chinese pond mussel (Anodonta woodiana)
Introduced to Singapore

This freshwater bivalve is now well-established in parts of Singapore, where it was originally identified as Pseudodon vondembuschianus.

A Preliminary Checklist of the Molluscs of Singapore
Presence of the alien chinese pond mussel Anodonta woodiana (Lea, 1834) (Bivalvia, Unionidae) in the Iberian Peninsula
Distribution of the Chinese pond mussel, Sinanodonta woodiana (Lea, 1834) in Flanders (Belgium): ready for the invasion?
Sinanodonta woodiana (Lea, 1834) (Bivalvia: Unionidae): a new non-indigenous species in Lake Garda (Italy)
First record of Sinanodonta woodiana (Lea, 1834) (Bivalvia: Unionidae) in Moldova
Expansion of Sinanodonta woodiana (Lea, 1834) (Bivalvia: Unionidae) in the Czech Republic
Sinanodonta woodiana (Lea, 1834) (Mollusca) - a new mussel species in Poland: occurrence and habitat preference in a heated lake system
New records of Sinanodonta woodiana (Lea, 1834) (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Unionidae) from Eastern Romania
Distribution of Anodonta (Sinanodonta) woodiana (Rea, 1834) in inland waters of Serbia
Sinanodonta woodiana (Lea, 1834), Corbicula fluminea (O. F. Müller, 1774), Dreissena bugensis (Andrusov, 1897) (Mollusca: Bivalvia): Alien invasive species in Romanian fauna
The distribution and abundance of the Chinese mussel Anodonta woodiana (Lea, 1834) in the heated Konin lakes
Morphological and genetic variability of the population of Anodonta woodiana (Lea, 1834) occurring in the heated Konin lakes system


(Photo by BioKore)

Raffles Museum Treasures: House shrew

House shrew (Suncus murinus)
Collected from Singapore, September 1940
Introduced to Singapore: Commensal

Wildlife Singapore
The annotated budak: Shrewed
Ecology Asia
IUCN Red List
Global Invasive Species Database
Animal Diversity Web
The Musk Shrew (Suncus murinus): A Model Species for Studies of Nutritional Regulation of Reproduction


(Photo by PSYL Photography)