Kapuas river flowing through my city, Pontianak. This river is the longest river of Borneo island and also become the longest river in Indonesia with a total length of 1,178 km. Name Kapuas was taken from an upstream area of the river that called Kapuas Hulu.
Kapuas River is home to over 700 species of fish with about 12 rare species of fish and 40 species of fish are threatened with extinction. Freshwater fisheries potential in the Kapuas river is about 2 million tons. Forests are still protected causing the Kapuas river maintained continuity.
One of the most famous fish is Siluk or Arowana. Indonesian and Asian people assume Arowana came from heaven and bring good luck. Arowana fish, especially the Super Red Arowana (Scleropages Legendrei) hunted by many people because of its value. Buyers even willing to spend millions of money for the Super Red Arowana.
Upstream area of Kapuas river generally classified as acidic area with a pH <6. The water is dark or reddish colored slightly, due to the high tannin content derived from peat and plant remains to rot.
The red color is striking in this Arowana suspected as an adaptation to the unique water conditions. In this environment, the red color makes it easier to disguise them when hunting prey.
In their natural habitat, the population of Arowana declined rapidly due to illegal arrests and the ability to breeding is low. It is also encouraging Arowana included in the red list of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora CITES, which is categorized as critical. That is, Arowana including species whose numbers have been very few and endangered.
