https://jurcon.ums.edu.my/ojums/index.php/jtbc <p style="text-align: justify;">The Journal of Tropical Biology and Conservation (JTBC) is a free, open-access, international, peer-reviewed journal published by the Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ITBC), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). This journal publishes two main categories of papers: (1) full-length research articles or reviews; and (2) short notes or communications. The JTBC is devoted to the publication of research in all fields that are of general relevance to tropical biology and conservation particularly in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, and other tropical regions in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. <a href="https://jurcon.ums.edu.my/ojums/index.php/jtbc/about">...more.</a></p> en-US <p> BY: credit must be given to the creator.<br /> NC: Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted.</p> <p>This journal provides open access to its content under CC BY-NC 4.0 on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports greater international collaboration and information exchange.<br /><br /></p> jtbc@ums.edu.my (Chief Editor ) gjulia@ums.edu.my (Julia Kunai @George) Wed, 09 Apr 2025 16:00:50 +0800 OJS 3.3.0.8 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 https://jurcon.ums.edu.my/ojums/index.php/jtbc/article/view/5188 <p>Urban areas with high populations generate high levels of plastic waste from human activities, entering and raising microplastic levels in riverine systems. Microplastic contamination in rivers poses serious risks to fish through ingestion, toxicity, and bioaccumulation. Nevertheless, the paucity of previous studies on fish microplastic pollution in Sabah, Malaysia highlights the knowledge gaps in this area. Thus, this study aimed to assess microplastic pollution in fish from the urbanised Sepanggar River in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. A total of 39 fish were caught from the river using gill nets (2-inch mesh), identified to the species level, and measured for total length, standard length, and wet weight. Samples were dissected into muscles and internal organs and digested with 10% KOH. Microplastics were then extracted using the density separation method in 5M NaCl and counted by type, colour, size, and polymer type. The present study demonstrated that microplastics were detected in 77% of fish (5.28 ± 6.51 items/fish) caught from the Sepanggar River. Small-sized microplastic fragments (54%), black (40%), and rayon (23%) were the dominant microplastics in fish. The Mann-Whitney U test revealed that microplastic abundance in internal organs (3.54 ± 3.63 items) was significantly higher than that in muscles (1.74 ± 5.10 items). The characteristics of ingested microplastics varied significantly by fish species, probably due to the different feeding habits and diets. Overall, fish in the Sepanggar River were moderately polluted by microplastics from domestic and industrial activities. Improved waste management is needed to monitor and reduce long-term microplastic contamination.</p> Raveena-Kaur KALWANT-SINGH, Chen Lin SOO, Cheng Ann CHEN Copyright (c) 2025 The JTBC allows authors to retain the copyright of their publications without restrictions, but authors will grant the JTBC the right of first publication, and other non-exclusive publishing rights. Authors retain the right to use the substance of the article in their future works, provided that its prior publication in this journal is acknowledged. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 https://jurcon.ums.edu.my/ojums/index.php/jtbc/article/view/5188 Wed, 09 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0800 https://jurcon.ums.edu.my/ojums/index.php/jtbc/article/view/5410 <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Seahorse are teleosts belonging to the genus <em>Hippocampus </em>which consists of 57 species. Among the 57 species, only 12 species exist in Malaysian waters and 11 species in the coastal waters of Sabah. These records and checklists pre-date 2015, and no known studies or field surveys have been conducted in Sabah since then. In this study, a field survey was conducted in selected areas of Sabah waters to document the species composition through morphological and genetic identification. Out of the 11 species that were recorded previously, only two species (<em>Hippocampus barbouri and Hippocampus comes</em>) were found and identified using taxonomic keys. CO1 mitochondrial gene was used for genetic identification and phylogenetic tree reconstruction of Maximum Likelihood (ML). The dataset comprises sequences of 11 species from Malaysian waters (excluding <em>H. satomiae</em>). The genetic distances, i.e., p-distances, for <em>H. barbouri</em> and <em>H. comes</em> were recorded to be less than 1% inter-species and more than 10% intra-species, which confirmed the distinct species genetically. Furthermore, findings highlight the urgency of implementing conservation strategies to protect the remaining populations, in light of limitations of this study.</span></p> Parivaseni RAVICHANDRAN, Cheng Ann CHEN, Chen Lin SOO, Nur Fatihah ABD HALID, Raymie NURHASAN, Sing Tung TENG Copyright (c) 2025 The JTBC allows authors to retain the copyright of their publications without restrictions, but authors will grant the JTBC the right of first publication, and other non-exclusive publishing rights. Authors retain the right to use the substance of the article in their future works, provided that its prior publication in this journal is acknowledged. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 https://jurcon.ums.edu.my/ojums/index.php/jtbc/article/view/5410 Tue, 13 May 2025 00:00:00 +0800