Ahmad Muammar Kadafi

Apis cerana has a broad distribution across mainland Asia and exhibits high variation in wing venation. However, studies on wing venation variation in the Indonesian archipelago have mainly focused on Sumatra and Java. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze wing venation variation in Kalimantan and the relationship between A. cerana in the Sundaland region, including Sumatra and Java. Geometric morphometric methods were applied using 19 wing venation landmarks, followed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Neighbor-Joining (NJ) tree analysis. The results showed that A. cerana from South Kalimantan exhibited the greatest variation in wing shape, whereas samples from West Kalimantan displayed relatively conserved wing size and shape, as indicated by low variation. Landmarks 11, 16, and 17 contributed a high value of wing venation variation within A. cerana Kalimantan and across Sundaland. The PCA revealed that A. cerana from Kalimantan was generally separated from those of Sumatra and Java. This pattern was supported by the NJ tree, which showed distinct clustering between Kalimantan and the other islands, although several samples from Banten and Jambi clustered with Kalimantan. These findings highlight the biogeographic pattern of A. cerana across Sundaland and the potential of wing-venation geometric morphometrics for digital species identification in Indonesia.

The vast distribution of Apis cerana (F.) across the Asian continent is a source of high genetic variations, particularly in areas experiencing geological formation and isolation, such as the Sundaland, including Kalimantan, Indonesia. This study investigated the genetic variations of A. cerana in the five provinces in Kalimantan and their relationships across Asia. We utilized mitochondrial DNA of COI, COII, and igs COI/COII sequences for genetic studies of 29 colonies from 12 locations in the five provinces of Kalimantan. The trees and network data confirmed the two lineages of A. cerana in Kalimantan, i.e., the Indo-Malayan (Borneo haplotype) and Indonesian (Java haplotype), with a slightly higher population of the latter. The high Java haplotype in Kalimantan might be due to the anthropogenic impact that transferred this honey bee from Java to Kalimantan. This finding agreed with the previous studies of geometric morphometrics using the same colonies as this study. We identified the common Borneo1 haplotype in the Indo-Malayan lineage of A. cerana, confirming previous COI findings. Furthermore, three specific haplotypes and putative amino acids of A. cerana were found in East and South Kalimantan. Those differed among the Asian population and thus could serve as the markers for these regions. Based on the sequences studied, the phylogenetic tree showed distinct clusters of A. cerana in Kalimantan and Sundaland from other A. cerana in the Asian regions. This study revealed that the mitochondrial DNA sequences showed the origin of the A. cerana population in Kalimantan and among islands in Sundaland.

Here, we describe a new species of Cyrtodactylus Gray from East Java (Dampit, Malang), Indonesia that belongs to the C. marmoratus species group. It is a medium-sized (SVL) species with adult males reaching 65.9 mm in males, 64.3 mm in females; characterized by dorsal tubercle absent on brachium, 17–18 dorsal tubercle rows, 38–40 rows of smooth ventrals, precloacal depression present in a deep groove, 15–17 precloacal pores in an inverse Y shape, 7–12 femoral pores, 3–5 poreless femoral scale separated precloacal and femoral pores in males, 2 pairs of post caudal tubercles, second post mentals separated by 5–7 scales, abrupt transition between rows of large and small postfemoral and ventral femoral scales, and no enlarged subcaudals. The new species is genetically divergent from the other Javan congeners of the C. marmoratus complex with genetic divergences (p-distances) ranging from 15.1–24.3% for the mitochondrial ND2 gene. This description brings the number of nominal species of bent-toed gecko in Java to six.

The genus Nyctixalus was first described by Boulenger in 1882. Previous systematic studies of this group primarily focused on its relationships with other rhacophorid frogs and did not explore inter- and intraspecific variation in detail. This study aimed to determine the position of Indonesian species within their genus. We used DNA barcoding of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene and conducted a morphological analysis. Mitochondrial genealogies were constructed based on NJ, ML, and BI analyses, while uncorrected p-distance was also calculated. The Mann-Whitney U-test and PCA were used to analyse variations among species for each character component. Dissimilarity may contribute to measurable group structure. DNA barcoding revealed that Nyctixalus forms a monophyletic group. The PCA analysis revealed that N. margaritifer population from Java formed a group, while N. pictus could not be separated on the scatter plot. DNA barcoding revealed that Nyctixalus forms a monophyletic group. The genetic distance within the population of N. margaritifer (0–1.52 %) and N. spinosus (0–0.2 %) showed a variation of intraspecific genetic distance. However, in the two allopatric populations of N. pictus Kalimantan and Sumatra (p-distance = 4.3–4.6 %), there are high variations (6.9–9 %) between populations from Sumatra and Malaysia. These findings suggest that N. anodon van Kampen, 1907, from Kayu Tanam, Sumatra Barat, Indonesia, represents a distinct species from N. pictus Peters, 1871, originally described from Sarawak, Malaysia.

Two new species of dicroglossid frog of the Limnonectes kuhlii complex are described from southeastern Borneo, Indonesia. These new species were previously confused with L. kuhlii, whose type locality is Java, but recognized to represent genetically distinct lineages. Here, we describe them based on molecular and morphological characteristics. The two new species, Limnonectes maanyanorum sp. nov. and Limnonectes nusantara sp. nov., can be distinguished from named species of the Limnonectes kuhlii complex from Borneo, Java, Sumatra, and Peninsular Malaysia by significant genetic distances in partial sequences of the 16S rRNA gene and combinations of morphological characters. These descriptions are an initiation step in taxonomic work to encourage studies of the L. kuhlii complex in Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Polypedates pseudotilophus Matsui, Hamidy et Kuraishi, 2014 was priorly reported from Sumatra, West Java, and Central Java. Only a few specimens and genetic data were available and reports on its distributional range in Java are lacking. We reported a new distributional record of P. pseudotilophus from the lowland forest in Malang Regency, East Java Province, Indonesia, and provide morphological and genetic data. The East Java specimens were morphologically similar to Sumatra specimens also supported by genetic distance ranging between 2.2 – 2.4%. Although considered as conspecific, East Javan population formed a separate clade to Sumatran population.

The analyses of molecular genetic data (mtDNA markers 16S, ND4, CYTB, and the nuclear marker c-mos) provided evidence that the Asian cat snake taxa Boiga multomaculata and B. ochracea actually represent a single species. They form mixed clades of low intraclade genetic differentiation. This evidence for conspecificy is supported by the lack of differentiation in all examined pholidotic and morphometric characters. Therefore, we formally place Dipsas ochracea Theobald, 1868 in the synonymy of Dipsas multomaculata Boie, 1827. We provide a summary of the tangled taxonomic history of the taxa involved in this study. Also, we resurrect Dipsadomorphus stoliczkae Wall, 1909 from synonymy of B. ochracea, for specimens exhibiting 21 midbody dorsal scale rows. Boiga stoliczkae is found in the Himalayas north and west of the Brahmaputra valley. Finally, based on the detection of historical genetic lineages within the newly defined species Boiga multomaculata we recognize three subspecies: Boiga multomaculata multomaculata (Boie, 1827), Boiga multomaculata ochracea (Theobald, 1868), and Boiga multomaculata septentrionalis n. ssp. which is distributed in northern Myanmar and Assam and Nagaland, India. We designate BMNH 1946.1.2.60 (1) as neotype of Dipsas ochracea Theobald, (2) as lectotype of D. ochraceus Günther, and (3) as lectotype of Boiga ochracea walli Smith, thereby making these names objective synonyms. Finally, we designate BMNH 94.12.31.55 as lectotype of Dipsadomorphus stoliczkae Wall.

Gonggoli AD, Atmajaya VY, Kadafi AM, Arida EA, Hamidy A. 2023. Limnonectes from Enggano Island (Indonesia) with comments on its taxonomic status. Biodiversitas 24: 473-480. Limnonectes shompenorum is a fanged frog known to be distributed in the satellite islands of the western coast of Sumatra and some parts of mainland Sumatra. This frog was also recorded in Enggano Island, but the taxonomic status and morphological data information still need to be studied. Herein, we examined L. shompenorum from Enggano Island based on molecular methods using the 16S rRNA gene and redescribed its morphological characters. The phylogenetic trees were constructed using Neighbor-Joining (NJ), Maximum Likelihood (ML), and Bayesian Inference (BI) analysis, and morphological measurements were taken using 23 characters. The results demonstrate that L. shompenorum is a monophyletic group and a sister taxon of L. macrodon. The monophyletic group of L. shompenorum consists of two clades (A and B) with relatively large genetic distances within the population (0.00-5.10%), representing distinct interspecific lineages. Clade A consists of the Enggano population with a genetic distance within the population of 0.00-0.48%, and clade B consists of the Mentawai Islands and Mainland Sumatra with a genetic distance within the population of 1.48-2.74%. The Enggano population is closer to the Mentawai population (2.47-2.74%) than the Sumatra population (3.52-5.10%). Our genetic data aligns with previous studies that indicate the Enggano population possibly comes from the Mentawai population. Morphologically, L. shompenorum from Enggano Island is similar to the original description, however it has consistent, distinctive characteristics by having the fourth finger longer than the second finger in females. Further research using broader molecular data, including the holotype population, is needed to confirm the taxonomic status of L. shompenorum.

Ekowisata merupakan salah satu upaya dalam konservasi diversitas fauna dan flora melalui pengelolaan secara ekologi dan berkelanjutan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menginvetarisasi data diversitas fauna dan flora yang terdapat pada kawasan wisata alam Kahui Project, Kalimantan Tengah. Pengambilan data dilakukan dengan motode Visual Encaunter Survei (VES) pada kelompok fauna dan random sampling pada kelompok flora. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian ditemukan sebanyak 78 spesies fauna yang terdiri dari 46 famili, dan 20 spesies flora dari 13 famili. Diversitas fauna dan flora yang beragam pada kawasan Kahui Project dapat dijadikan sebagai salah satu acuan dalam pengelolaan ekowisata dan objek lain sebagai pendukung dalam pengembangan kawasan ekowisata dimasa mendatang.