The Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia is a crucial freshwater biodiversity hotspot and supports one of the world's largest inland fisheries. Within the Tonle Sap basin, freshwater molluscs provide vital ecosystem services and are among the fauna targetted for commercial harvesting. Despite their importance, freshwater molluscs of the Tonle Sap basin remain poorly studied. The historical literature was reviewed and at least 153 species of freshwater molluscs have been previously recorded from throughout Cambodia, including 33 from the Tonle Sap basin. Surveys of the Tonle Sap Lake and surrounding watershed were also conducted and found 31 species, 15 bivalves (five families) and 16 gastropods (eight families), in the Tonle Sap basin, including three new records for Cambodia (Scaphula minuta, Novaculina siamensis, Wattebledia siamensis), the presence of globally invasive Pomacea maculata and potential pest species like Limnoperna fortunei. This study represents the most comprehensive documentation of freshwater molluscs of the Tonle Sap basin, and voucher specimens deposited at the Inland Fisheries Research and Development Institute, Cambodia, represent the first known reference collection of freshwater molluscs in the country. In order to combat the combined anthropogenic pressures, including invasive species, climate change and dams along the Mekong River, a multi-pronged approach is urgently required to study the biodiversity, ecology, ecosystem functioning of freshwater molluscs and other aquatic fauna in the Tonle Sap basin.
Keywords: Cambodia; Lower Mekong basin; Tonle Sap Lake; alien species; bivalves; diversity; economic species; snails.
Ting Hui Ng, Ekgachai Jeratthitikul, Chirasak Sutcharit, Samol Chhuoy, Kakada Pin, Arthit Pholyotha, Warut Siriwut, Ruttapon Srisonchai, Zeb S. Hogan, Peng Bun Ngor.