Hoya caudata Hook. f. is recently discovered as a new record to the native flora of Singapore in Nee Soon Swamp Forest. The total number of Hoya species now stands at 11. Two dichotomous keys (vegetative and reproductive) to the Hoya species of Singapore are also provided.

Terrestrial snails are generally viewed as low dispersal organisms. This observation of a hitch-hiking Helicarion perfragilis highlights the potential for humans as assisted dispersers of snails. Prior to this, birds are the most well-known vertebrate for facilitating dispersal of snails through adherence to feathers (Pearce et al. 2012). The only other case of human assisted dispersal for snails known to the contributors was an anecdote of the microsnail Diplommatina tweediei hitch-hiking on a researcher in the rainforests of Malaysia (Davison, 1995a; 1995b). The strong adhesive slime produced by Helicarion perfragilis was well-noted (e.g., Tan, 2012; Lim, 2013). This slime may have partly contributed to the ability of H. perfragilis to adhere and disperse through agents such as birds (Pearce et al., 2012), wind-blown vegetation (Hall & Hadfield, 2009) and in the present case, humans. Helicarion perfragilis has previously been recorded from frequently-disturbed orchards as well as primary and secondary rainforests (van Benthem Jutting, 1950; Ho, 1990; Tan et al., 2012; Lim, 2013). The presence of Helicarion perfraglis in rainforests of various stages of maturity and its coexistence with exotic flora suggests this species may be an ecological generalist. Their ubiquity on Singapore Island also suggests their ability to colonise regenerated rainforests over ecologically short timescales through means such as assisted dispersal. While this is an isolated observation, it suggests an under-appreciation of humans as assisted dispersers of low mobility organisms such as land snails. This issue is particularly relevant to Southeast Asia given that direct human interaction with wilderness areas is rapidly increasing (Giam et al. 2011).

The adult humpback grouper featured here is densely covered with numerous small brown and blackish spots instead of the considerably fewer large spots on a 12 cm juvenile seen recently at Chek Jawa (Toh, 2015). The humpback grouper reaches a maximum known size of 71 cm total length. It seems to be naturally uncommon over most of its range, and is sought after for the live reef food fish trade, as well as the aquarium trade (Craig et al., 2011: 62-63).

http://hdl.handle.net/10862/1054

The groupers (Family Serranidae) are among the most popular species in the live reef food fish industry in the Asia-Pacific region. Groupers are generally fast growing, hardy, suitable for intensive culture, and with excellent characteristics for processing. The high demand for these fishes is due to their unique culinary attributes and scarcity.

Hybrid tilapia, identified by their uniformly white, orange or pink colour patterns, have been introduced in Singapore for modern aquaculture (Lim & Ng, 1990). The numerous individuals in the featured observation could have escaped, or been released, from nearby floating fish farms in the Johor Strait (personal observation).