Conservation Actions

A large portion of the land area surrounding Lake Wawontoa (Lontoa) has the status of Protected Forest (Hutan Lindung) administered by the Protection Forest Management Unit of Larona Malili (KPHL Larona Malili). Despite this status, implementation of a strict regulation, which incorporates a zonation system sustainably managed for various human activities alongside nature conservation programmes, seems very limited, if not lacking, throughout the lake.

Further surveys are required to confirm the current extent of the species distribution within Lake Wawontoa (Lontoa). Research is also recommended on the effects of ongoing threats, such as sedimentation from deforestation, on this species. Additionally, research is required to see if this species is harvested and whether this represents a threat to the population.

Location Information

This species has been recorded in Lake Wawontoa (Lontoa), which is part of the Malili Lakes system, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Lake Lontoa is a relatively small lake to the northeast of the larger Lake Towuti.

Geographic Range

Extant

Indonesia

Population Information

This species has previously been recorded in Lake Wawontoa (Lontoa) (Kottelat et al. 1993). However, Herder et al. (2006) could not confirm its presence within the lake, although they did not sample the entire lake area. Herder et al. (2006) speculated that the absence of this species may be a result of deforestation in the catchment.

Threats

Lake Wawontoa (Lontoa), where this species occurs, is threatened by substantial levels of deforestation, which has occurred in the local area surrounding the lake with some areas losing almost all forest cover. This is thought to have reduced the transparency of the lake, but previous records for comparison are lacking (Herder et al. 2006). However, other lakes in the system have overall relatively high transparency, with the exception of in estuarine areas after long and heavy rainfall, (D. Lumbantobing pers. obs. 2018) and therefore, it is assumed that Lake Wawontoa (Lontoa) would have also had relatively high transparency prior to deforestation leading to sedimentation.

Given the natural relatively high levels of transparency, it is thought that low transparency is negatively affecting this species, but to what extent is not certain. However, high sedimentation is also likely to change the water parameters of the lake (e.g. pH, conductivity), which will affect the ecological suitability of the lake for this species in the long term (D. Lumbantobing pers. comm. 2018).

There is one location based on the threat of deforestation leading to sedimentation because a single deforestation event on the nearby hill slope could cause increased sedimentation throughout the entire range of the species, given the small area of Lake Wawontoa (Lontoa).

IUCN Red List Account Link

Please click here to see the species' IUCN Red List Account page.