“Singapore Biodiversity: An Encyclopedia of the Natural Environment” is launched!

“Singapore Biodiversity: An Encyclopedia of the Natural Environment” was just launched at the National University of Singapore by President Nathan, in the presence of about 150 people including VIPs Mah Bow Tan, Vivian Balakrishnan, Tommy Koh, donors, sponsors, contributors and other members of the university and natural history community.

Many people contributed to the volume and the general editors are Peter Ng, Richard Corlett and Hugh Tan. Ria Tan will be blogging a review in her indefatigable way at Wild Shores Singapore this week.

The immediate question is “where can I get a copy?”

It will be available in major bookstores. and should have arrived last week. The NUS Co-Op informs me the retail price of the book is $69.50 but they will be selling it at a 20% discount from tomorrow, i.e. for $55.60 (update – I learn form EDM that this will always be the price for NUS staff and students).

The publisher EDM puts their books on the international market so I checked a few sites to find pre-ordering already available with free local shipping (Super Saver Shipping) in these countries:

• Amazon Canada for CDN$ 30.33
• Amazon US for US$31.50.
• Amazon UK for £34.16

Interestingly this online shop, The Book Depository has it on sale for US$37.50 with free shipping to numerous countries including Singapore. For us that means S$45.75!

I have not purchased from the Book Depository but reviews online (e.g. at Great Deals Singapore) seem reassuring.

Links

• News report of the launch the same night – “Guide to Singapore’s biodiversity launched,” by Sara Grosse. Channel News Asia, 18 July 2011.
• Raffles Museum News post about the launch with a brief description of the book’s contents. 20 Jul 2011.

The “Great Oyster From Singapore” (Tridacna gigas) at the International Fisheries Exhibition, London, 1883

Did Tridacna gigas Linnaeus, 1758 ever occur in Singapore? It is the largest in the family Tridacnidae, reaching to one and a half metres.

Singapore is home to four other species of giant clams. According to Tan & Woo, 2010 [A Preliminary Checklist of the Molluscs of Singapore], the giant clam species in our waters are :

1. Hippopus hippopus (Linnaeus, 1758) (bear paw or horse’s hoof clam),
2. Tridacna crocea Lamarck, 1819 (the burrowing giant clam),
3. Tridacna maxima (Röding, 1798) (the small giant clam) and
4. Tridacna squamosa Lamarck, 1819 (the fluted giant clam)

(Species links are to WildSingapore Fact Sheets.)

So I was tickled to see this photo last week from the University of Washington Libraries’ Freshwater and Marine Image Bank which features images scanned by the staff of the Fisheries-Oceanography Library.

Click for the larger image

This image was from page 232 of Whymper, F., 1884. Fisheries of the World: an Illustrated and Descriptive Record of the International Fisheries Exhibition, 1883. Casseil & Co. Ltd., London, viii + 376 p. Th caption reads “Great Oyster from Singapore; (Tridacna gigas.); This is the finest known specimen, and to it the Jury awarded a diploma at the Fisheries Exhibition. Its weight is 3 cwt. 3 qrs. 14 lbs.; its length 3 ft. 4 in.; and its breadth 2 ft.; 2 in.

Excitement aside, this simply means there were two shells on display at the Gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society, South Kensington, London, from 12 May – 30 October 1883 for the International Fisheries Exhibition. They were labelled to be “from Singapore”, but are we to belief a fisherman’s tale about their origins?

Singapore, has been at the centre of regional and international trade for a long time, so claims about wildlife origins in the days before regulation have to be extensively checked. To make this complicated, giant clams were not uncommon near kampungs where they were variously used as containers presumably after the meat of the mollusc had been consumed.

In some instances, we will never unravel the truth about some facts. But its nice to see more material from old tomes surface on the internet, to challenge and contribute to our understanding.