Enbe Project 1

ENBE Project OneHabitat and Creature

My Site - FRIM

I went to Forest Reserved Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) for my ENBE project one. Saw a lot of big and tall trees around this area, so I chose this as my site. Besides all those big and tall tress, it has a small river and a lake beside the trees and that’s where I found my plant (water lily) and animal (arapaima gigas) I want to research on.

My Site - FRIM

Pictures of my animal and my plant.

5 Senses

5 Senses

a) Lots of tall trees

b) A river & lake

c) Saw some insects and birds

d) Saw some special plants

a) Cricket sounds

b) River streams

c) Blowing Wind

d) Birds Chirping

a) Wet and sandy river

b) Rough stones

c) Uneven surface of tree barks

d) Smooth Leaves

e) Moist and muddy grass

a) Tasteless and a bit fishy of the river

b) Bitter taste of the leaves

c) Tasteless rocks

a) Earthly grass smell

b) Fishy river smell

c) Fresh air

Sight Hear Touch Taste Smell

My CreatureArapaima Gigas(Dragon Fish)

My Creature - Arapaima Gigas (Dragon Fish)

Biogeographic Regions : Neotropical

Habitat Regions : Tropical freshwater

Terrestrial Biomes : Rainforest

Aquatic Biomes : Lakes and ponds, rivers and streams

Wetlands : Swamp

Family: Osteoglossidae

Genus: Arapaima

Arapaima gigas is the only generally-recognized species of the arapaima. In 1829, Swiss biologist Louis Agassiz produced a monograph of another proposed species found in the Brazilian Amazon and named Arapaima agassizii in 1847.


Anatomy and morphology

Can grow up to 2.5 meters (8.2 ft)

The maximum-cited weight for the species is 200 kg (440 lbs).

One of the most sought after food fish species in South America.

Requires the arapaima to surface for air every 5 to 15 minutes.


Ecology

The diet of the arapaima consists of fish, crustaceans, even small land animals that walk near the shore. It is the top predator in such lakes during the low water season, when the lakes are isolated from the rivers and oxygen levels drop, rendering its prey lethargic and vulnerable. The fish is an air-breather, using its labyrinth organ, which is rich in blood vessels and opens into the fish's mouth, an advantage in oxygen-deprived water that is often found in the Amazon River.


Importance to humans

The tongue of this fish can kill intestinal worms by drying it and mixing it with guarana bark.

Arapaima's bony tongue is often used to scrape cylinders of dried guarana, an ingredient in some beverages

The bony scales can be used as nail files.

In the Amazon region, the locals often salt and dry the meat, and can be stored for a long time without rotting.

My PlantWater Lily

My Plant - Water Lily

Habitat Region : Tropical Freshwaters

Order : Nymphaeales

Family : Nymphaeaceae Genus/Scientific names : Nymphaea

Uses: Cut flowers or attracts butterflies

Genera : i) Barclaya ii) Euryale iii) Nuphar iv) Nymphaea v) Ondinea vi) Victoria

There are about 70 species of water lilies around the world. The genus Nymphaea contains about 35 species across the Northern Hemisphere. The genus Victoria contains two species of giant water lilies and can be found in South America. Water lilies are rooted in soil in bodies of water, with leaves and flowers floating on the water surface. There are two main types of water lilies, hardy and tropical.


Water Lily (Flower)A waterlily flower has numerous petals that open to reveal the male sex organs (stamens) that surround the central female organ (pistil) that contains one or more ovaries.

RootsWater lilies have spreading rhizomes and roots that anchor the plant deep in the mud of still, fresh surface water. The roots take up nutrients, as well as small reserves of water.

Lily PadsWater lilies spread to accommodate the area they are growing in, filling the surface of the water with lily pads. Lily pad growth continues throughout the growing season.

Stems (Petiole)The water lily stems, or petioles, which connect the floating leaves to roots anchored at the bottom, are usually longer than necessary to allow the floating leaves to reach the water surface.


Differences between hardy water lilies and tropical water lilies

Hardy Water Lilies

Many, though not all, float on the surface of the water and many are cup-shaped with some starry. Hardy pads are rather thick and leathery with smooth edges.

Hardies grow horizontally from and along a fleshy rhizomatous rootstock.

Propagation - From division for exact duplication, from seed for variation.

According from what I see from the water lilies in the lake I found, I’m sure it is a tropical water lily, not hardy.


Tropical Water Lilies

All stand above the water and shapes are usually starry but some varieties are more cupped.

Tropicals grow from a single central crown. All leaves and flowers radiate from this point and growth is vertical.

Tropical pads are usually somewhat thin with edges slightly scalloped or toothy.

Propagation - From tuber and division for exact duplication, from seed for variation. In some varieties known as "viviparous", from new plants produced on the leaves.


Each leaf lasts about 6 weeks before turning yellow.

Tropical water lilies have much stronger

fragrance, even stronger than the hardy

water lilies.

Tropical Water Lilies come in bright shades

of white, yellow, orange, pink, purple,

blue, and red.

They tend to bloom for a month or two and it stays open later in the day. The tropicals require warmer

temperatures than he hardies to bloom.

The pads are larger than the hardies and often taking up much

more space in the water than they do.

Education

Enbe Project 1