Predator and prey: A dog-faced water snake biting a ladder gudgeon. — The Straits Times/ANN
When Daryl Tan, an avid photographer of snakes, went on a trip to the mangroves at Pasir Ris Park in June 2023, he made a monumental discovery – a creature that was thought to be extinct in Singapore.
It was not a snake, but a fish whose existence was recorded only in a watercolour painting more than 160 years old.
The ladder gudgeon, or bostrychus scalaris, is a rare and little-known fish named for the step-ladder-like banded pattern on its body. French naturalist FL de Castelnau first documented the fish via a watercolour painting in a notebook compiled in Singapore between 1858 and 1862.
Tan’s photographs, taken at the mangroves at Pasir Ris Park on June 3, 2023, might be the first photographic evidence of the creature’s existence in Singapore, said Dr Tan Heok Hui, an ichthyologist at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum.
“That night, I saw that the tide was high, so I decided to drop by the mangroves at Pasir Ris Park to see what species of snakes I would be able to find at high tide and when the tide recedes,” said the 35-year-old educator.
“I was alone and just as I was about to reach the mangroves, I heard a splash and turned to see a flash of white followed by a thin tail.” Moving closer to the source of the splash, he saw a dog-faced water snake biting a fish.
Tan did not know much about fish, but even with his limited knowledge, he could tell it was not a common fish.
Following the encounter, he asked his friends for help to identify the fish, but none were able to. He then posted photos on his Instagram page.
It was only three months later, in September 2023, that Lin Jiayuan, a first-year student at Nanyang Technological University, came across Tan’s post and realised what he had found.
After commenting on Tan’s post, Lin then shared it with two members of staff at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum – Dr Tan, as well as Kelvin Lim, the museum’s curator of amphibians, birds, fishes, mammals and reptiles. Both agreed with Lin’s identification.
Tan and Lin also jointly submitted a Biodiversity Record in the museum’s publication Nature In Singapore. — The Straits Times/ANN
