Thomson Ridge

A Biology student from the National University of Singapore caught my attention from a recent entry on his blog, Johora singaporensis. Johora singaporensis is the scientific name for the endemic Singapore Freshwater Crab, found only in Singapore's Central Catchment and Bukit Batok Nature Reserve.

He was writing on another endemic species of crab, the Johnson's Freshwater Crab Irmengardia johnsoni, which is also found only in Singapore and within our Central Catchment. It got a nature buff like me to be very excited. Apparently, he caught a specimen which had something stuck to its shell. His lecturer confirmed it to be a buffalo leech when he brought the specimen to the laboratory the next day. What? Leech? At our Central Catchment? Which goes to say we have leeches in MacRitchie Reservoir... where we get our drinking water from? Yuckksss!


The Johnson's Freshwater Crab caught with the buffalo leech (photo: Daniel - Johora singaporensis)

Well, I don't know why he's blocking access to his blog now. Perhaps it had set out other excited hunter-seekers like me, and along the way, disrupted his research. Haha!

But I went to Thomson Ridge today to look for the stream where he had caught his specimen. I gave up after an hour after finding no stream. I ended up at MacRitchie Reservoir instead at the nature trail which leads to the HSBC Tree Top Walk.







Okay. Never mind. I will try my best to contact him and liaise with him for more details on the location.