The conservation of lowland rainforests is high on the conservation agenda of many tropical countries. Associated with conservation is the need to understand the tremendous diversity of plant and animal life present in the various habitats. Only when we know what is present can proper decisions be made and reasonable conservation plans established.
Betta livida, the "Jealous" Fighting fish from Malaysia peat swamps.
Freshwater fishes are important in almost all freshwater habitats. They are prime marker organisms, excellent indicators of a habitat's health (Ng, 1991a).
History
Over the last 10 years, our knowledge of peat swamp fish fauna has increased by leaps and bounds. This has resulted from the interest shown by a small group of biologists, mostly taxonomists, keen to document what is present in such a seemingly inhospitable habitat. Kottelat & Whitten (1993) has estimated that there are perhaps 900-1000 species of freshwater fishes in Southeast Asia. Of these, only a small percentage, perhaps 100-200 are peat swamp fishes, of which perhaps half are obligate, stenotopic peat swamp fishes. How important a zoological component are the peat swamp fishes?
