Fish: Ladder gudgeon, Bostrychus scalaris
Snake: Dog-faced water snake, Cerberus schneiderii
What was supposed to just be an exciting encounter between a Dog-faced water snake, Cerberus schneiderii, and its prey turned out to be a monumental discovery when fish experts such as Jiayuan Lin and even Dr Tan Heok Hui from Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum identified the fish as a Ladder gudgeon, Bostrychus scalaris.
According to them, this species of fish is presumed to be nationally extinct and the only evidence of its occurrence in Singapore was based on a watercolour painting by F. L. de Castelnau in a notebook compiled in Singapore between 1858 and 1862. In fact, the photographs you see here are reportedly the first photographic evidence of its existence in Singapore! But even then, as a herper, I only realised just how significant the sighting was when they compared it to the rediscovery of the Selangor mud snake, Raclitia indica, in Singapore in 2020.
This sighting also proves just how rich the biodiversity in Singapore is and just how much there is for us to discover and rediscover. If a fish not seen since the 1800s can suddenly appear in the jaws of a snake, who knows what new species might pop up tomorrow? As Jiayuan says, “if there’s one, there’s more!” We can only wait with bated breath the next exciting discovery the next lucky soul will make on our shores!
For more information, do check out this biodiversity record:
https://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/NIS-2024-0003.pdf
Text and photo by Daryl Tan Photos are copyrighted to Daryl Tan
For more local wildlife photographs and fun facts, do check out his Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/clickingthecritters/
