Sunday, December 7, 2025. 30 students from the Aquaculture Study Program of Tadulako University conducted a field practicum for the course on endemic aquatic biota of Sulawesi. Dr. Samliok Ndobe, the course coordinator, selected Lake Poso as the field practice location based on a presentation by Kurniawan Bandjolu (Ekspedisi Riset Akuatika Indonesia) two weeks prior at the University of Tadulako campus, which introduced Lake Poso and its endemic aquatic biota.
The seven-hour journey from Palu to Tentena was rewarded with the natural beauty of Saluopa waterfall, where students, lecturers, and companions camped.
Before conducting the field practicum, Dr. Samliok Ndobe and Kurniawan Bandjolu provided instructions and distributed a manual book to identifying endemic species in Lake Poso, compiled by Markéta Rejlková (Sulawesi Keepers) and Diky Dwiyanto (Masyarakat Zoologi Wallacea).
The practicum locations are divided into two locations, namely Batu Dua Leboni and Saluopa Waterfall. In each group, students must be able to observe, collect, and identify endemic species of fish, shrimps, crabs, snails, and bivalves from the practicum locations.
At Batu Dua Leboni, the students successfully collected several fish from these species: Oryzias nebulosus, Oryzias orthognathus, Oryzias nigrimas, and Mugilogobius sarasinorum. They also collected crustaceans, namely several shrimps Caridina longidigita, one Caridina that could not be identified, and crabs Parathelphusa sarasinorum. Mollusk samples from this location included Tylomelania kuli, Tylomelania carbo, Tylomelania centaurus, Tylomelania toradjarum, two unidentified Tylomelania species, and bivalve Corbicula possoensis. The students were very enthusiastic about participating in this field practicum.
One student named Nanda was very happy with this experience. She saw that there were still many Oryzias orthognathus ricefish and was surprised to see that Lake Poso was very rich in aquatic biodiversity. She hoped that the sustainability of this lake could be well maintained.
At Saluopa Waterfall, students collected halfbeaks Nomorhamphus celebensis, as well as crustaceans, namely Caridina schenkeli shrimp, Parathelphusa possoensis crabs, and one unidentified crab species. The snails collected from this location were Tylomelania toradjarum and one unidentified Tylomelania species. Currently, the Saluopa River is home to an alien species, Barbodes binotatus. It is not known who released this fish, which has the potential to become invasive.
Dr. Samliok Ndobe explained how important it is to protect our natural resources, so students must learn to recognize and distinguish between endemic biota and invasive species that threaten the sustainability of Lake Poso, especially invasive fish such as Melanochromis auratus, Flowerhorn, and Osteochilus vitattus, which have been observed living in the same location as endemic biota.
Kurniawan P. Bandjolu
