New fighting fish species called ‘Betta nuluhon’ identified in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah now has five species of fighting fish endemic to the state, following the latest discovery of the “Betta nuluhon”.

In a recently published scientific journal for animal taxonomists, Zootaxa, the species was said to have been found in the state’s Crocker Range area.

Belonging to the genus Betta, fighting fish are small freshwater species found in South-East Asia and normally marketed as an aquarium fish.

To date, some 70 wild species of fighting fish have been scientifically identified.

The newly described fighting fish - bearing the name nuluhon which means hill in Dusun language - was typically found in shallow running clear-water streams in western Sabah.

Sabah Forestry Department in a statement on Thursday (Aug 27), said its research officer Nur Syafiqah Shamsul Kamal had worked in collaboration with the National University of Singapore (NUS) and local NGO, Forever Sabah in classifying the fish.

NUS tropical fish taxonomist Dr Tan Heok Hui who co-authored the recent Zootaxa publication, said Borneo is home to some 700 known species of freshwater fish where more than half (53%) are endemic to Borneo.

Tan expected several more new species to be discovered in Sabah soon under his collaborative work with the Forest Research Centre of the Sabah Forestry Department.

Previously a publication back in 2017 claimed some parts of Sabah, particularly the southernmost parts of the state, remained poorly explored and sampled for fish diversity, paving an opportunity for more work to be done.