Nesting area for Horsehoe Crab In Pahang

Balok river estuary is an important landing site for horseshoe crab during spawning season. They choose the beach probably due to the availability of the natural diets such as polychaetes and small mollusks as well as the sediment characteristics. The landing was reported not affected by the increasing fishing activity in the area.

The fate of horseshoe crabs in the Straits of Malacca

Horseshoe crabs inhabiting along the Straits of Malacca are commonly caught by fishermen using drift net. Some are caught by hand. These animals could end their life at the nearby seafood restaurants or being sold to buyers from Thailand.

A villager enjoyed the morning sun with his grandson and the horseshoe crab catch 

This hatchery is a holding place for thousands of horseshoe crabs 

FISHERIES ASPECT OF MALAYSIA'S HORSESHOE CRAB

Horseshoe crab is a chelicerate arthropod and well-known as the living fossil. They are found in abundance along the Straits of Malacca. In our recent survey, we recorded their presence and contribution to the local fisheries activity.

LOCAL COPEPODS AS LIVE FEED IN AQUACULTURE

Local marine benthic copepod has the potential as  an alternative to our dependency on Artemia and Rotifer in larviculture industry. Laboratory and hatchery observation showed that copepods are the preferred and most adequate food for many marine fish and shrimp  during their early larval stage. They are also preferred diet for seahorse and horseshoe crab larvae.

Significance of local copepods:

· Minimize the limitation in live feed culture technology

· An innovation for large scale culture

· Support diet requirement of marine fish and shrimp larvae

· Increase survival rate of fish and shrimp larvae

· High yield of live feed

· Minimize the fry production cost

INOCEM RESEARCH STATION: ThePurpose Inocem Research Station is a research ...

INOCEM RESEARCH STATION:
ThePurpose Inocem Research Station is a research ...: The Purpose Inocem Research Station is a research station formally established to concentrate on integrated research activity related t...

Recent Activities

1 August : Field visit to MH Aqua in Pekan Rawang Sg. Mati, Johor, Malaysia.

This visit reminds me of when we first started our work at a green mussel hatchery in Parit Bunga, Johor, 7 years ago. Our main concern was the seawater supply for microalgae culture. we had to spend on the seawater intake facilities. In MH Aqua, this problem was solved by transporting seawater from the nearby estuary to their hatchery once awhile.

INTRODUCTION TO IRS

The Purpose

INOCEM Research Station (IRS) is a research station formally established to concentrate on integrated research activities related to sustainable exploitations of natural resources. Our main area is on aquatic resources with strong emphasize on river, estuary and marine resources.

The Research

IRS welcomes researchers from other departments in IIUM to join us in achieving the aspiration of the station to perform an integrated research for the natural resources to be sustainably exploited for the future. We are also looking forward any request for collaboration, contract, extension and consultation research activities from other research institutions and industry community. The existing research activities include:

1.     Hatchery Technology

2.     Fish Behaviour Study

3.     Broodstock Management Study

4.     Live Feed Production

5.     Selective Breeding and Molecular Database

6.     Marine Ecosystem Health

7.     Horseshoe Crab Flagship Project

The Team

The station comprises of different group of people who work together as a team. This includes the researchers, administrative officers and technical team.

Our main research team:

Associate Prof Dr. Zaleha Kassim

Aquatic Biology, Marine Ecology
drzack@iium.edu.my

Assistant Prof. Dr. Akbar John
Marine Biotechnology

akbarjohn@iium.edu.my

Associate member:

Prof. Dr. K.C.A. Jalal Khan
Associate Prof. Dr. Y. Mukai
Assistant Prof. Dr. Ahmad Asfar

Science officer:
Br. Khairul anwar Rusli