A certain species of catfish was recently discovered to be residing in the moist, humid habitat of Singapore's only remaining freshwater swamp - all this while eluding scientists who have been conducting extensive surveys there for 30 years.
The surreptitious species known as Encheloclarias kelioides - is among Asia's most poorly understood clariid catfish, an airbreathing species characterised by their elongated bodies, lengthy barbels or whisker-like sensory organs, as well as their long dorsal and anal fins.
Dr Tan Heok Hui, a curator of fish at the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) in its Faculty of Science, told The Straits Times that the E. kelioides species was found for the first time in a forest stream in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve in August 2022.
Over the course of six months, close to 20 of the catfish species were discovered in the secluded but well-protected Nee Soon Swamp Forest, which is enclosed within the 2,000ha of forest cover in the heart of Singapore.
"This was the first record of this catfish in Singapore despite intensive surveys over the last three decades, after Eric Alfred's comprehensive listing of Singapore's native freshwater fishes in 1966," Dr Tan noted, referring to the first Singaporean director of the National Museum.
Known to be a very secretive species, the E. kelioides burrows in submerged peat soil, leaf litter and root mats, and can easily evade detection by the untrained eye, he added.
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