Lake Manguao.

The cyprinid fauna of Palawan are considered depauperate. However, the 2007 discovery of a new species and the collection of potentially undescribed populations warrant further study. Of the ten cyprinids known today, eight are Palawan endemics. Despite this fact, their taxonomy, distribution, and conservation status is poorly known while the introductions of exotic Nile tilapia and habitat degradation are emerging threats.

1Seining in one of the rivers in Northern Palawa

This project aims to collect voucher specimens of cyprinids from Northern Palawan to re-establish the freshwater fish collection of Palawan that was lost in World War II. At the same time, we will collect voucher specimens from areas that were never sampled before. This collection will help us to conduct taxonomic analyses that may provide the basis for describing new species of fish from Palawan wetlands, which can further highlight needs for immediate conservation action.

We also wanted to look into the distribution of northern Palawan cyprinid to help resource managers in prioritizing key conservation areas for wetland species. We are also going to assess the potential impacts of introduced Tilapia to these endemic fishes. Given that Palawan has few resident ichthyologists conducting freshwater fish research, this project will also train undergraduate students and faculty members from local universities to enable them to conduct proper freshwater fish field sampling, specimen archival and taxonomy, as well as conservation status assessment.

This study will be conducted specifically in northern Palawan with Lake Manguao as the focal study area but also covers the major rivers in Puerto Princesa City, the municipalities of Roxas, and Taytay.