Java ferns and Oryzias javanicus

The 37th place in the qualifying stage of the Biotope Aquarium Design Contest 2015

 Romania. Emil Visan

Volume: 45 L
List of fishes: Oryzias javanicus
List of plants: Microsorum pteropus
Biotope description: The Aquarium represents one shore of a deciduous forest, of the river Mekong in Cambodia. “Mekong River”, derived from “Mae Nam Khong” = mother of water. The Mekong is a trans-boundary river in Southeast Asia. It is the world’s 12th longest river and the 7th longest in Asia. Its estimated length is 4,350 km, and it drains an area of 795,000 km2, discharging 457 km3 of water annually. As the Mekong enters Cambodia, over 95% of the flows have already joined the river. From here on downstream the terrain is flat and water levels rather than flow volumes determine the movement of water across the landscape. More than half of Cambodia remains covered with mixed evergreen and deciduous broadleaf forest, but forest cover has decreased from 73% in 1973 to 63% in 1993. The Mekong basin is one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world. Only the Amazon boasts a higher level of biodiversity. Biota estimates for the Greater Mekong Subregion include 20,000 plant species, 430 mammals, 1,200 birds, 800 reptiles and amphibians, and an estimated 850 freshwater fish species (excluding euryhaline species mainly found in salt or brackish water, as well as introduced species). The most species richness orders among the freshwater fish in the river basin are cypriniforms (377 species) and catfish (92 species).