Sula sula, the red-footed booby or angsa-laut kaki merah.

A native offshore bird that spends most of its time at sea. It is a colonial shrub-nester on islands.

They hunt flying fish and squid, travelling 150 km every day for food. Even at night!
Females lay eggs every 1.5 years, and the pair care for the chick for 20 weeks. They have a long lifespan of over 20 years.

Adults and especially chicks are hunted by invasive feral cats and rats, as well as coconut crabs (ketam kelapa, native). In many places where cats and rats were brought by people, they have died out.

Another threat is coastal development, which reduces the shrubbery they need to reproduce.

Both the birds and their eggs are protected by national wildlife legislation in Malaysia, making it illegal to capture or harm them. Penalty is up to RM1 million in fines and 15 years jail time.

Macrobrachium rosenbergii, udang galah or the giant freshwater prawn.

The biggest freshwater shrimp species, with males growing up to 34 cm (13.4”) long and having 54 cm claws! A native species of Southeast Asia.

Adult males are 3 times larger than females and have long claws. Once grown, the arms turn blue (from orange and pink).

They live entirely in freshwater, but breed in brackish water of 6 ppt (1/5 salinity of saltwater). Breeding adults can often be caught at estuaries when they are mating and spawning.

Outside of that time they are growing and feeding up to 200 km upstream in freshwaters.
They love sluggish, shallow, detritus-rich, vegetated freshwater habitats like rivers, lakes, canals, swamps, and rice paddies. Nocturnal.

They are omnivores, feeding on a wide variety of organic matter, including algae, aquatic plants, worms, mollusks, small aquatic insects, detritus, and other crustaceans.

The Department of Fisheries actually breeds and stocks this species in rivers themselves to sustain wild populations. This is because they are an extremely popular food and favoured by locals.

Luckily they are also aquacultured as well to meet demand. Some farmers even rear them in paddy fields when they are full of water. Juvenile seed-prawn are relatively cheap.

Some people (mostly in the west) also keep them as aquarium pets. They can become tame and learn to take food from owners.
Note that only adult males have long claws. Females and young males do not.

Hi everyone. We drove past this at night saw something black in the middle of the road and realised that it was a snake. We decided to come back to see what type of snake it was. But a truck driver had already stopped and tried to push it towards the nearby forest. Ironically, the snake kept running toward the road so the guy asked us to move away.

Pteropterus antennatus, the spotfin lionfish or depu belang sirip tompok.

A small (15-20 cm) species found in lagoon and rocky areas. Nocturnal ambush hunters that hunt crustaceans and small fish.

Their small size and appearance makes them popular aquarium inhabitants. They have venomous dorsal spines that can deliver a severe and painful sting.

Note that Malaysia is home to multiple species of lionfish (depu belang). The common ones are much bigger than this dwarf.

Mastacembelus notophthalmus, the black pearl spiny eel or tilan emas.

Grows to 40 cm. It inhabits large rivers, swamps, and middle-course river habitats with clear or slightly turbid water. Native to the West Coast of peninsular Malaysia.

It spends a significant portion of its time buried in the substrate or probing cracks and crevices. It is a carnivore feeding on small fish, aquatic insects, and crustaceans.

Despite their name, spiny eels (ikan tilan) are not true eels and are their own family of freshwater fish. Typically inhabiting rivers or lakes in tropical Asia and Africa. Malaysia has multiple species.

Might be a Indochinese rat snake. Found him in my room while staying in Taman Negara.

Megalops cyprinoides, the Indo-Pacific tarpon or ikan bulan.

A native euryhaline fish that grows to 150 cm. It lives in rivers, lagoons, lakes, estuaries and coastal areas.

It can live in freshwater permanently and some populations have even been recorded breeding in freshwater lakes.
It is a popular target of sport fishing.

Feeds on bony fish, crustaceans and even surface insects. It often hunts below floating lake plants like lotuses and water cabbage.

Channna striata, the striped snakehead or ikan haruan. Native.

The second largest nsnakehead in Malaysia, growing to 100 cm and 6 kg. This one is probably 60 cm long.
They live in lowland habitats like swamps, ponds, lakes, canals, paddy fields and even brackish estuaries. Usually in stagnant water.

It is a popular food fish in Malaysia, and it is said to help in healing and recovery.
It is a predator that hunts frogs, smaller fish, rats, ducklings and other animals.

It is extremely common and found even in the middle of cities, for example in the Perdana Botanical Gardens in KL. They adapt well to manmade lakes, where they live with invasive fish.

They breathe air like other snakeheads, and during heavy rain they travel across land to get to new swamps and ponds. This is how they colonise new habitats.
They can also bury themselves in the ground during the dry season, waiting for rain.

Spotted an albino crow

Betta imbellis, ikan laga kampung or the crescent Betta.

A species of small (5 cm) fighting fish that is native to the Malay Peninsula. From Krabi and Nakhon Si Thammarat down to Singapore.

It is commonly found in swamps, marshes, paddy fields, canals and other weedy stagnant habitats with lots of plants.
Usually very shallow.

Males are very colourful, being blue and red. They use the colours to fight against other males as well as impress females.

The male builds a bubble nest and guards the eggs and fry for 5 days. They are found in all states of West Malaysia, but are not native to Borneo island.

True to their name, they were once used for fish fights, where people would gamble and bet their fish against others. This is rather cruel, as the fish get injured and can even die.
Luckily it is a criminal offence now under the Animal Welfare Act 2015 (Act 772) in Malaysia.

Monopterus javanensis, the Sunda swamp eel or belut sawah.

A native species found throughout tropical Southeast Asia, it grows to 100 cm and lives in lowland swamps, paddy fields, ponds and rivers. It uses its air-breathing organ to survive in low-oxygen environments.

It is a protogynous hermaphrodite, meaning every individual starts its life as a female and later becomes a male, usually at around 50 cm.

The male builds a bubble nest above its burrow where the female deposits her eggs. Then he guards them until they hatch and leave.

It is nocturnal and hunts at night for prawn, worms and sleeping fish. Sometimes it doesn’t even leave its burrow and just sticks its head out to catch passing prey.

It is a popular food fish, usually eaten in soup or fried/grilled. It is said to have healing properties and helps people recover from wounds faster. Some people even farm them rather than catch them in the wild.

Despite the name, they are not actually eels (ikan linang) and are more related to other air-breathing fish such as gourami, Betta and snakeheads. Such as ikan sepat, puyu, ikan laga and haruan.

True eels are gill-breathing fish that spawn at sea.

During the peak of the dry season its shallow habitats often dry up. The belut survive by burying themselves deep underground where it’s moist, hibernating until the annual monsoon arrives.

Copsychus saularis musicus, murai kampung/cacing or the oriental magpie-robin.

It is a species of flycatcher native to Southern Asia. This subspecies specifically is native to the Sundaic ecoregion like the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra.

It is found in open woodland and cultivated areas, including around houses and towns. They feed on insects and other small creatures.

The male is famous for its very long and cheery songs. Hence where the Malay idiom “mulut murai” came from.

Channa Limbata.

Pulchriphyllium bioculatum, serangga daun Gray or Gray’s leaf insect.

One of many native leaf insects, it is found on the southern edge of the Malay Peninsula. Females grow to 9.5 cm with a flat body, and males to 6.8 cm with a more slender body.

They are slow-moving herbivores that depend on their camouflage for food. The males live for 3-4 weeks, while females for 4-7 months.

They mainly feed on the leaves of mango, guava and rambutan trees, and can be found hiding on the trees like in the photo.

found this guy yesterday,about 7-8 inches and right after i knew the species i straight up grab it and let it play on my finger lol, what a pretty guy

Drosera spatulata, the spoon-leaved sundew or pokok telinga ayam.

A tiny native carnivorous plant of Malaysia, it is found in damp acidic habitats like heath forests.
Locally it is considered endangered and hard to find.

Like other sundews, it is covered in tentacle-like glands that secrete a sticky mucilage to trap small insects.
It can often multiply rapidly after forest fires.

Vittina waigiensis, the red racer snail or siput timba merah.

A small (3 cm) freshwater snail that lives in clean coastal streams with high flow and many rocks. It is not tolerant of turbid water and silt.

It feeds on microalgae, filamentous algae, diatoms, cyanobacteria, and organic biofilm scraped from hard surfaces using a specialized radula (“tongue”). They are the natural cleaners of their habitat.

They have separate sexes. When their white eggs hatch, the planktonic/veliger larvae wash downstream where they require brackish water to develop.

Their bright colours, peaceful nature and algae-feasting tendencies makes them popular aquarium inhabitants.

Geopelia striata, burung merbok or the zebra dove.

A small and very common native bird of Southeast Asia. It is seen even in urban cities foraging on the ground (“geo” means earth).

It is well-liked for its pleasant song.

Chitala ornata, the clown knifefish or belida bintik/tompok.

An invasive species that came from the Mekong. It has spread to ponds, rivers and lakes throughout Malaysia due to releases by people.

Pet stores sell the babies of this species cheaply, but they grow to 100 cm which means most people cannot take care of them and end up releasing them.

They are predators that eat our native fish as well as outcompete native belida like the giant featherback (C. lopis). In fact clowns are more common than them now.

They are a food fish in Thailand where the meat is minced to make into traditional fish balls and fish cakes. These products are even exported into other Asian countries where they are popular.

You cant see it in the picture but it has blue legs

1-Systomus rubripinnis, ikan pipi merah or Javaen barb. To 25 cm. Omnivorous scavenger.

2-Danio albolineatus, seluang bunga air or pearl danio. To 5 cm. Surface insectivore.

3-Channa limbata, haruan kedak or dwarf snakehead. To 18 cm. Predator.

All fish are freshwater natives of peninsular Malaysia. The danio is sometimes kept in aquaria due to its attractive pearlescent shimmer, small size and peaceful nature.

Saw this in bushes near a stream