| FishBase | Complete | Literature | Reference | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Species | Families | Species | Families | |||
| Marine | 4941 | 729 | No | 2600 | ||
| Freshwater | 90 | 17 | No | 1300 | Kottelat, M. and T. Whitten, 1996 | |
| Total | 5387 | 770 | No | |||
| Conservation | A recent monograph on the freshwater fishes of western Indonesia and Sulawesi lists 962 species (Ref. 7050). Irian Jaya is covered in Ref. 2847. There is virtually no available data on the freshwater fishes of the Moluccas and Lesser Sundas. The knowledge of the Indonesian fish fauna must still be regarded as rudimentary, with 175 new species discovered from 1993 to 1996. It is estimated that 400-600 additional species remain to be discovered (Ref 12217). One of the most important freshwater biodiversity sites in Asia are the Malili lakes of Sulawesi, with more than 30 endemic species. Unfortunately, the lakes are protected as Tourist Parks only which allows, e.g., the introduction of exotic species (Ref. 12217). Although 62 per cent (1993) of Indonesia’s total land area remains forested, about 1.04 per cent (1981-1990) of the total forest area is being deforested every year because of population growth and government incentives. The government has banned clear-cutting and the export of raw logs, but illegal cutting continues. Still, 10 per cent (1992) of the country is officially protected, and Indonesia still possesses extremely rich biodiversity. The following information is to be sought: - Existence of conservation plans; - Contact(s) for further information. |
| Geography and Climate |
A stretch of relatively open water - consisting of the Java, Flores, and Banda seas - divides the major islands of Indonesia into two unequal strings of islands: the comparatively long, narrow islands of Sumatra, Java, Timor, and others, to the south, and Borneo, Sulawesi, the Moluccas, and New Guinea to the north. A chain of volcanic mountains rising to heights of more than 3,805 meters extends from west to east through the southern islands from Sumatra to Timor. Puncak Jaya (5,040 meters), in the Sudirman Range of Irian Jaya, is the highest elevation in the republic. Each of the major northern islands has a central mountain mass, with plains along the coasts.The most extensive lowland areas are on Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Irian Jaya. Over many centuries, periodic volcanic flows from the numerous active volcanoes have deposited rich soils on the lowlands, particularly in Java.
The climate of Indonesia is tropical, with two monsoon seasons, a wet season from November to March and a dry season from June to October. The weather is more moderate between monsoons. Many parts of the country have only slight differences in precipitation during the wet and dry seasons. Humidity is generally high, averaging about 80 per cent annually. The daily temperature range (about 20° to 32°C at Jakarta) varies little from winter to summer. Rainfall in the lowlands averages about 1,780 to 3,175 millimeters annually and in some mountain regions reaches about 6,100 millimetres. Ref. Microsoft, 1996 |
| Hydrography |
Ref. Microsoft, 1996 |