This study reports on the taxonomic verification and distribution of three presumed morphologically identical Tridacna species (giant clams), namely T. crocea, T. maxima and T. squamosa, from nine localities in islands off Terengganu, Pahang and Johor in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. A 467-bp partial sequence of mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase 1 (MT-CO1), which serves as the DNA barcoding gene, was analysed for species identification of 247 samples. The MT-CO1 gene was successfully used to identify all the giant clam samples to species level based on GenBank BLAST and BOLD databases. Three highly-supported clusters were obtained, which supported the morphological species determination into T. crocea, T. maxima and T. squamosa. However, a few discrepancies were observed, which could be attributed to misidentification of juveniles. T. squamosa and T. crocea were more closely related to each other compared to T. maxima. T. maxima and T. squamosa were found to be ubiquitous in all the islands, while T. crocea was restricted to the southeastern islands of Pahang and Johor. The precise identification of samples through the MT-CO1 gene and information on their distributions are useful in strategising the conservation and management of giant clams in this region.

Sonneratia caseolaris commonly known as mangrove apple or Berembang in the Malay language, is a species of plant in the family Lythraceae. Area of S. caseolaris along Selangor River in Kampung Kuantan has become a natural habitat for a variety of arthropods. This study aimed to identify the species variations in arthropod communities at different selected stations along Selangor River at two different sampling times. Present study was conducted for six consecutive months (August 2010 until January 2011) at 19 selected stations along the Selangor River. Sampling was conducted once per day and night. Sweeping method by using sweep nets were used as the arthropod sampling method. Data analysis was done quantitatively to determine the composition of arthropod community. A total of 7,707 individual arthropods collected belonging to 10 different orders consisting of Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Diptera, Neuroptera, Orthoptera, Odonata, Lepidoptera, Blattodea, Mantodea and Araneae. A total of 4,563 arthropod individuals were sampled at night, which was more than the daytime (3,144 individuals), with Station 17 recorded the highest arthropod individual out of the 19 sampling sites. During the night, the firefly, that belongs to the Lampyridae family showed the highest arthropod composition. The presence of arthropod biodiversity along the Selangor River reveals that the S. caseolaris area is important in maintaining a diverse community of fireflies and other arthropods for conservation purposes.