Sentani RainbowfishChilatherina sentaniensis

Conservation Actions

There is a natural reserve including part of Lake Sentani, but this was primarily set up for the adjacent forest. However, there are no specific conservation actions in place for this species. Monitoring of the population is recommended.

Location Information

This species is known only from Lake Sentani and small tributaries flowing into the lake near Jayapura, Papua Province, Indonesia (G.R. Allen pers. comm. 2019). It is now considered extant only at the eastern end of the lake (Kadarusman pers. comm. 2019).

Geographic Range

Extant

Indonesia

Population Information

The species was reported as being common in the 1950s. However, repeated attempts to collect the fish between 1980 and 2000 yielded only around ten specimens taken from a single creek in 1991 (G.R. Allen pers. comm. 2019). In 2015, under 30 individuals were collected in the east of Lake Sentani (Kadarusman pers. comm. 2019). The population size is considered to be low, but the trend is thought to be stable (Kadarusman pers. comm. 2019). However, this could potentially change due to the several invasive species present.

Threats

The human population living along the shore of Lake Sentani is rapidly increasing and was estimated at 25,000 in 1996. The population has continued to grow since the the 1990s, and was estimated at 137,000 in 2014. The resultant pollution from domestic waste entering the lake is a threat to the species living there. A further threat to this fish comes from the introduction of exotic species, and associated disease, into its habitat, including carp, tilapia, walking catfish, barbs, snakehead, red devil cichlids and gouramies. There is also traditional gold mining to the west of the lake (G.R. Allen and Kadarusman pers. comm. 2019).

IUCN Red List Account Link

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