Discovery @ Tuas Grasslands on 17 Feb 2008

Forty Eighth Discovery Posting:

Let me quote what SY has written, "An initial plan to go Sungei Buloh was changed to the Tuas marshlands; the enticement was to hard for me to resist, even though I was busy doing some assigments." It was an exact situation for me, as i had to complete an uncompleted assignment due on Monday. However, to go to some nature place in Singapore which i have not been to before was too big an attraction for me.

Thus Tuas Grasslands was the place i was at this morning (17 Feb) with LK, HW, RY, ST and SY. With us also were Mr Tang (Dragonfly expert) and several students who were there to study dragonflies.

Did i mention this place was a great place to observe dragonflies?

And as we were walking along the path just next to the grassland, this butterfly (picture below) attracted our attention and immediately our cameras were out! First 'discovery' and this might be the Tawny Coster, Acraea violae.
Discovery Note:
1. According to what i read, this species migrated from Thailand to West Malaysia and then to Singapore! Read about this at here.

And we actually saw the caterpillars of this butterfly back on Ubin in Jan, here's a photo of them i took back then (picture below).
Would this look like a place in Singapore to you (picture below)? I am wondering how many natural grasslands do we have right now...
Another look at this place with LK leading the way for the students (picture below).
Along the way, LK pointed out this rare orchid that grows from the ground (picture below), by the way, most orchids are epiphytes. This is the Spathoglottis plicata or Lumbah Tikus, second 'discovery'.
Discovery Note:
1. This is a orchid that can be found in forests or reclaimed land (Tuas Grasslands is reclaimed land)
2. The colours of the sepals and petals are variable, ranging from white to dark purple.

If you are wondering what is an epiphyte...

Discovery Note:
1. Some sources say an epiphyte is a plant that grows on another plant but does not receive its nourishment from that plant.
2. Other sources say that an epiphyte is an air plant, which is described as a plant that does not grow in soil.
3. Both definitions accurately describe an epiphyte.

After walking further into the grasslands, we reached this marshland like habitat (picture below) where the students were busy at work while we continued to explore around.
And as i walked around, i spotted the third 'discovery' which looks like a pond wolf spider, Pardosa pseudoannulata (picture below). Discovery Note:
1. This spider is easily recognised by the two dark bands on the carapace and ring-like markings on the legs.
2. Most Wolf Spiders hunt on the ground.
3. Female Wolf Spiders are recognised by the spherical egg-sac that is attached to their spinnerets. Read more about them at here.

And just right next to where we were was the sight of development (picture below), it is said that this place will be developed into a racing course for riders. But is there a need to destroy everything? =( Extra (read more about the things we saw to understand why we are sad that this place is going to be gone soon):
a) Check out Tidechaser's entry to see the many dragonflies we saw.
b) Read Urban forest to know why this place is such a great place to see dragonflies.
c) Discover more about the carnivorous plants we saw at this place from Manta's blog.

Finally, it's thanks to LK for planning this trip and all others for making this another enjoyable trip.

Interested to find out how many kinds of dragonflies we can see in Singapore?
> Visit Mr Tang's website on dragonflies here.

Discovery @ Semakau on 8 Feb 2008

Forty Seventh Discovery Posting

In preparation of the first public Semakau Inter-tidal walk on 23 Feb 2008, a whole batch of current Semakau Guides and new trainees were out at Semakau today (8 Feb 2008).

Here's part of the group just crossing the 'starting point' of the forest trail to reach the Inter-Tidal area on Semakau (picture below).
And while the rest of the gang were out exploring, Ron lead a group of trainees for their practical session and I was kinda of arrowed to do hunter seeking.

Here's first 'discovery', the common sea star, Archaster typicus (picture below).

Discovery Note (Warning: Sex Content):
1. This is a 'mating' position for the sand star.
2. The 'mating' position for the common sea star works like this: the male will be on top of the female, their arms in a formation as in the picture.
3. But they do external fertilization, which means their sexual organs don’t come into contact and the closeness is to increase the chance of fertilization, when they release the eggs and sperms into the water.
4. This 'mating' position is consider unusual in the world of sea stars, as only the common sea star and one other related species is known to “mate” in this way.

I think second 'discovery' looks like some egg capsule (picture below). But still not sure at this point. Can anyone enlighten me?
Yesterday at Hantu, i saw a Spiral melongena laying eggs on Pulau Hantu. This time, it was a volute laying eggs (picture below)! Third 'discovery'.
Discovery Note:
1. Volutes are carnivorous.
2. They prey on bivalves, enveloping the victim completely with their foot forcing the bivalve to finally open from exhaustion and lack of oxygen.
3. They can grow to more than 20cm and used to be common but now threaten due to 'harvesting' from humans and habitat lost.

Here's the trainee group in action and with Ron showing them something (picture below), i can't remember what it is though... haha =P
Anyway, as i continue to walk on to look for interesting things, an octopus moved past my legs. And before it could hide itself under a rock, i quickly took a shot of it (picture below). Fourth 'discovery'.
Discovery Note:
1. Octopuses are characterized by their eight arms (not tentacles), usually bearing suction cups.
2. They have a relative short life span, and some specials live for as little as six months.
3. They have three hearts! Two pump blood through each of their two gills, while the third pumps blood through the body.
4. They are also highly intelligent, probably more intelligent than any other order of invertebrates (any animal without a spinal column).
5. They are also able to change their body colour to camouflage themselves.

Extra:
View a video about these colour-shifting abilities of sea creatures here.
Do watch it as it amazed me. =)

Anyway, as i walked on. I came across the fifth 'discovery', the sandfish sea cucumber (picture below).Discovery Note:
1. The popular Chinese name for sea cucumber is haishen, which means, roughly, ginseng of the sea.
2. Being related to the sea stars, sea cucumbers have a soft, wormlike body and range from a few centimeters to 90 centimeters in length.
3. Unlike the sea star, however, they have no arms but use a cluster of tube-like feet around their mouth to gather food.
4. To repel predators or when stressed, a sea cucumber might expel their innards or ‘vomit’. And if too much of their innards are expelled, they might die off as a result.
5. The sandfish sea cucumber is the species of sea cucumber which people consume. But they contain toxins, so it must be properly prepared before consumption.

Sixth 'discovery' looks like a peacock anemone (picture below).
Discovery Note:
1. They are named peacock anemones because of the many colours and patterns we can find.
2. They are cnidarians like sea anemones and jelly fishes, which means you shouldn't touch them with your hands as they may be stung by the peacock anemone.

As the night came, lots of crabs started to appear, here's one of them, the red egg crab (picture below) and this is the seventh 'discovery'.
Discovery Note:
1. Egg crabs are highly poisonous and contain toxins which are not destroyed by cooking.
2. Since other animals don't particularly want to eat this crab as it is poisonous, it is slow moving and doesn't really bother to hide.

Another crab we saw, eighth 'discovery', is something i don't know its ID (picture below). Can anyone help me? Finally, as we walked back to the shoreline, we found a clown fish aka Nemo just next to a gigantic carpet anemone (picture below)! Ninth 'discovery'!Discovery Note:
1. The clownfish have a symbiotic relationship with sea anemone.
2. They have a mucus covering that protects them from the sting of the sea anemone's tentacles.
3. This mucus prevents them from being harmed, and allows clownfish to live in sea anemone.
4. Clownfish are hermaphrodites (they develop as males first and mature as breeding females or ‘change’ into a female if there are no females).
5. More information? Click here.

Would like to thank CH, JH, HW, Ed, CK who were exploring around, for making my job easier as a hunter seeker by telling me where to look for things they found, Luan Keng for organising this trip and all others!

Oh, would also like to thank Andy for giving a few of us a ride which saved us lots of time in getting home. =)

Extra:
a) Tidechaser's blog entry on other interesting things on Semakau.
b) Manta's blog entry on two nemos at two different locations on Semakau.

Another group of shore lovers were out on Kusu, and check out what they saw on
a) Wildfilms blog
b) NatureScouter's blog.

Discovery @ Hantu on 08 Feb 2008

Forty Sixth Discovery Posting

The Legend of Pulau Hantu

Many years ago, there lived two great warriors who were bitter enemies. One day, they challenged each other to a duel in the sea near Singapore to determine the mightier of the two. Being equally matched, they fought for a long time, staining the sea with their blood.

Meanwhile, the fighting disturbed Jinn, the spirit of the sea. In a rage, Jinn created a whirpool which sucked the warriors’ men to the bottom of the sea. The undeterred warriors continued with their battle. Greatly annoyed, Jinn blinded one of the warriors with sea water. The other warrior quickly took advantage of the situation and fatally injured the blinded warrior. With his last breath, the blinded warrior thrusted his sword into his enemy. Both warriors thus perished in the battle.

The gods of the heavens were angry with Jinn for his interference in mortal affairs and decreed that the spirits of the two warriors should dwell on the surface of the sea. With great remorse, Jinn converted two perahus (boats) belonging to the warriors into two small islands where their spirits could reside. As one of the perahus was small smaller than the other, it became known as “Pulau Hantu Kechil” (meaning ‘Small Ghost Island’) while the bigger island was known as ‘Pulau Hantu Besar’ (meaning ‘Big Ghost Island’)

Adapted from “Myths and Legends of Singapore” by Mr. Pugalenti

The above story is an almost exact copy of the storyboard found on Hantu, an almost exact copy because the original one standing on Hantu now has a minor mistake. Notice the strikethrough i done on the word "small", that's the minor error. =P

Anyway, on the second day of the Chinese New Year, a batch of us visited Pulau Hantu. And this was my first time visiting this little island on the southern part of Singapore (picture below).
And on this island is one of the few places in Singapore where you can find the common sea star, archaster typicus (picture below). First 'discovery'!
Discovery Note:
1. I'm always fascinated by their tube feet as they are used for walking, handle food as well as breathing, talk about multi purpose!
2. Sea stars get stressed when out of water, as water to them is like blood to us, so please don’t take them out of the water for too long.
3. They are not as common as their name suggests. This is due to over-collection and habitat lost. So don't take them away from their homes when you see them. =)

Second 'discovery' looks like a Spiral Melongena. And it was laying eggs! A first sighting of this animal laying eggs for me (picture below).
Discovery Note:
1. They seem to like to lay eggs on hard surfaces.
2. Each "petal" is one egg capsule.

The largest nudibranch in the world? Third 'discovery' is probably it, Dendrodoris tuberculosa (picture below).The underside of the Dendrodoris tuberculosa (picture below). Discovery Note:
1. It is said that this nudibranch can grow to a length of about 25cm long!
2. According to the sea slug forum, this is easily identified by the colour of the underside of the mantle, which has a background colour ranging from pale greenish or yellowish brown to dark brown with large round white spots. Check out the underside of the nudibranch (picture above)!

Fourth, fifth and sixth 'discoveries' are feather stars (pictures below). Another first time of seeing an alive feature star for me!

A red coloured feather star (picture below).
A pale yellowed coloured feather star (picture below).A black and white coloured feather star (picture below)!Discovery Note:
1. These are Echinoderms, Phylum Enchinodermata, like the sea stars, sea cucumbers and sea urchins to name a few.
2. They belong to the class of Crinoidea and one of the most ancient and 'primitive' of ocean invertebrates, with a family tree rooted in almost 500 million years of history!

Of course, these were not all the things we saw on the island of Pulau Hantu.

Read and See more:
a) On KS's entry on his Wonderful Creation blog on a Nemo and other sightings!
b) On Wildfilm's blog on the many corals that is found on Hantu.
c) On ST's Manta's blog on a orange banded butterfly fish and other stuffs.
d) On SY's Urban Forest on a soldier crab and his compilation of photos.
e) On SJ's Nature Scouter on more corals and a number of crabs.
f) On RY's Tide Chaser for a description on the nudibranch, Gymnodoris rubropapulosa.

Finally, would like to thank Ria for this "hong bao" of organising this trip and all others for making this trip another enjoyable one!

And a Happy Chinese New Year to all discoverers!

Discovery @ Chek Jawa on 22 Jan 2008

Forty fifth Discovery Posting:

Woke up this morning just in time to catch the sunrise from my room's window (picture below)
Anyway, today was the second time that I was helping KS with his Chek Jawa project, at Chek Jawa of course.

Side Note:
You may read more about this project @ http://cjproject.blogspot.com/

And also today was a special day for KS, as he was to be interviewed for a Channel 8 programme on people working on the environment . So the camera was recording his activities almost all the time when it's on.

And due to that, he and some of the gang had to alight a bit earlier to walk to the entrance of CJ. Ron and myself managed to escape that fate by playing our age card. However, we aren't that old, mind you. It was just that we were plain lazy today. =P

Anyway, because of this, Ron and I were first to arrive at the entrance and got to see the first 'discovery', the flying dragon (picture below). Can you spot it?
Discovery Note:
1. The Flying Dragon, is a "flying" lizard that lives in the rainforests and rubber plantations of Asia and the East Indies.
2. It can spread out folds of skin attached to its movable ribs to form "wings" that it uses to glide from tree to tree over distances upwards of 8 meters (25 feet).
3. Its "wings" are brightly coloured with orange, red and blue spots and stripes, and they provide camouflage when folded.
4. They are known to feed on arboreal ants and termites.

After everyone arrived with a "grand" entrance, all of us walked to House No.1 for our briefing for our tasks today. And while waiting, here's second and third 'discovery' from the rescue tank at House No.1 (picture below). The fish at the foreground is a copper-banded butterfly fish, while the two at the background are kite butterfly fishes.
Discovery Note:
1. They have a large ‘false eye’ on its dorsal fin which fools predators into thinking that it is a big fish.
2. And if a predator does attacks it, the fish unexpectedly swim ‘backwards’.
3. Copper-banded butterfly fishes have a long snout with brush-like teeth to suck up coral polyps and small prey from crevices.

After the briefing, we headed out to the inter-tidal area and the first animal we encountered there was a elbow crab (picture below). This is fourth 'discovery'.
Discovery Note:
1. Their common name comes from their interestingly structured pincers which seems to have elbows.
2. It ambushes prey passing within striking distances of its extra long pincers.

I read from Sijie's blog that the hairy sea hare seems to be "in season" at CJ, so i though i would have the chance to see at least one today. But was i in for a surprise, cause i didn't just see one, i saw LOTS of them!

However, here's one of them (picture below) and fifth 'discovery'.
Discovery Note:
1. Sea hares probably got their name because they move rather quick for a slug and their tentacles do look a bit like the ears of a hare with some imagination.
2. The hairy sea hare is known to eat the thin film cyano-bacteria (a kind of micro-organism)

As today's tasks are mainly about monitoring of different organisms, we got a different one each. Alicia, Ron and I got to check out peacock anemones. However, it was only after the whole monitoring session and a reminder from KS (as i am typing this) that I realised that we didn't take any photos for peacock anemones. Duh!

Anyway, we were also asked to keep an eye out for common sea stars as they were wiped out after the mass flood back in Jan 2007 and seem to be sighted only recently in small numbers.

Read more about the flood @ http://iyor08singapore.blogspot.com/2008/01/chek-jawa-death-and-life-in-2007.html

Well, why do i mention this? Of course it was because we saw them, the common sea stars . Adelle found the first one as she was hunter seeking for the Chek Jawa guided walk, and soon we found 9 more of them (pictures below)!

A sign of recovery and sixth 'discovery'!
2 more common sea stars were found after this photo was taken (picture below)Discovery Note:
1. Although people commonly call them star fish, we prefer to call them sea stars. As they are not fishes.
2. If you look on the underside of the sea star, you will find the tube feet of the sea star.
3. These tube feet are used for walking, handle food as well as breathing, talk about multi purpose!
4. Sea stars get stressed when out of water, so please don’t take them out of the water for too long.
5. And although they are called the common sea stars, they are no longer common due to over collection and habitat lost and let's hope with the sight of these 10 sea stars, more will appear soon on the shores of CJ. =)

Here's something i've seen for the first time. A peanut worm (picture below), seventh 'discovery'!Discovery Note:
1. They were once very abundant in Singapore that they were collected and fed to ducks.
2. They are usually buried, but are sometimes seen on soft ground.
3. The ridged skin makes it look like a shelled peanut when it is contracted thus the name of peanut worm.

Eighth 'discovery' of the day was found after we've completed our task of the day, this should be a cake sea star (picture below). Discovery Note:
1. Distinguishing features for this species are the large bivalved pedicellariae (pincer-like structures) on the oral surface (under side where you find its mouth), with smaller versions found on the marginal plates and tiny scattered pedicellariae on the upper or aboral surface.
2. The upper surface of the disc is convex while the oral side is flat.
3. The arms are triangular, slightly upturned at the tips and boarded by prominent marginal plates.

Very soon, the tide was coming in and the whole gang had to leave the area unless anyone wanted to be washed away by the waves (picture below). Reaching back the jetty at Ubin, a scene of great serenity greeted us (picture below) before we departed Ubin. Thanks to everyone for making this trip another fun one and it didn't rain. =)

Extra:
Read wildfilms to check out some other organisms that was spotted by clicking here.

Discovery @ NTU Yunnan Garden on 19 Jan 2008

Forty fourth discovery posting:

When was the last time you looked up into the sky?
Above our heads this morning was this wonderful sight (picture above and below).
Bougainvilleas which lined on both sides of the Chinese Heritage Center main door, stood as a welcoming natural fencing instead of a daunting concrete or steel fence. Flower of the bougainvillea (picture below).
The 'little yellow flower' which dots around Singapore could also be seen around the place (picture below).
And on the grass, have you ever looked closely enough to notice these little wonders (picture below)?I was at Yunnan Garden today for a final trial guiding session before the actual walk itself. So to give a sneak preview of what visitors can see in the garden would be the first 'discovery', a hibiscus (picture below). Discovery Note:
1. The Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (Bunga Raya or "Chinese hibiscus") is the national flower of Malaysia.
2. The ma‘o hau hele (Hibiscus brackenridgei) is the state flower of Hawai‘i.
3. The Hibiscus syriacus (Mugunghwa or "Rose of Sharon") is the national flower of South Korea.
4. And did you know that the dried flower is actually edible and is a delicacy in Mexico!

Reference:
Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibiscus

More about the event @ http://niegreenclub.blogspot.com/2008/01/new-event-nature-walk-yunnan-garden.html

Discovery Corals @ Semakau

Forty third Discovery posting:

This is a follow up entry on the Christmas day trip to Semakau. But this entry will solely focus on corals as part of the assignment requirement. However, i will not do exactly what the assignment required us to do (to do a Coral IDs blog posting, as SY (fellow group member) has already done one. So i've decided to do what others have not covered, to give a brief introduction on what are corals.

What are Corals? An example from Genus Faviidae is shown (picture below).
Discovery Note:
1. Corals are animals.
2. They belong to a group of ancient and simple group of animals known as Cnidarians (pronounced as "nai-day-rians") Jellyfishes and sea anemones are also from this phylum Cnidaria.
3. Cnidarians are aquatic and they share a common and unique feature of having stinging cells used for protection and catching of prey.

Now as said, corals are animals, which means...

Discovery Note:
1. They are generally composed of more than one tiny animal, probably tens / hundreds / thousands of them in one coral structure, that's why you have heard of "Coral Colony".
2. These tiny animals are called polyps which feed on microscopic plankton or small organisms.
3. A polyp begins its life as a tiny, free-swimming larva; the larva is only the size of the head of a pin. Once it finds a hard support, it will settle there and will never move again. It reproduces by budding (in which an identical polyp sprouts out of the polyp's side) and by sexual reproduction (in which polyps release eggs and sperm, which mix in the water).
4. Budding usually occurs when the coral is "young" (meaning there is only a few polyps in the colony)
5. Look at the picture below, inside each "walled" section, you will find a polyp.
Now, some of you may have been always wondering about this, why are coral reefs so colourful? How do they do it?

Discovery Note:
1. From what i know, there are two possible reasons, one is due to fluorescence (which i will not go further into, as TC have already covered about it). The other reason is due to the colourful zooxanthellae algae they host.
2. These algae form a symbiotic relationship (one which they help one another) with the corals.
3. Through photosynthesis, these algae generate "food" for themselves and pass the extras to the coral which will help to the coral to grow into a larger colony. In return, the coral provides a "home" for these algae.
4. Thus, corals are usually found in clear and shallow waters, as sufficient sunlight is essential in photosynthesis.

Genus Oulastrea (picture below)
Have you ever been on a guided tour to an inter-tidal area and heard the guide telling you about hard and soft corals?

Discovery Note:
1. As we go down the list on how to classify corals, Corals belong to the class of Anthozoa.
2. And this can be divided further into two subclasses, Octocorallia and Zoantharia
3. Subclass Octocorallia. Polyps are characterized by having eight pinnate (side- branching) tentacles. Octocorallians include sea pens and soft corals.
4. Subclass Zoantharia. Polyps are characterized by having tentacles in multiples of six. Zoantharian tentacles are rarely pinnate. Black corals and reef-building corals are members of this subclass. Reef-building corals are also known as "hard corals" or "stony corals".
5. Hard corals are hard because of the calcium carbonate they produce to form the rock-like skeleton.
6. Soft corals also produce calcium carbonate, but in little amounts to help them keep their shape.
7. It is possibly because of this that the soft corals usually "grows" at a faster rate than hard corals.

Example of a hard coral. Genus Acropora (picture below) Example of a soft coral. Genus Sinularia (picture below)Close up view of soft coral. Notice the polyps... (picture below)Thanks again to Jani, our instructor for the Coral Workshop and Luan Keng for organising this .

Extra:
Read SY's blog for more coral IDs.
Read RY's blog for another entry of coral IDs.
Read TC's blog on Coral fluorescence.
Read more about Corals on wikipedia.