[micstarz]

Black Paradise Fish (Macropodus concolor) are present in the marshes, one of which is also the only known site in the SAR for Hydrochidae beetles, as a result of which that particular marsh was recommended for protection (by extension of the country park boundary) in a report on freshwater wetland habitats commissioned by the then Agriculture and Fisheries Department (Dudgeon & Chan, 1996). The author is unaware as to whether any action has been taken on this recommendation.

Fish fauna in the streams passing through the area has not been thoroughly surveyed, but on a recent site visit by fish expert Bosco Chan, several individuals of the Bonylip Barb Osteochilus vittatus were observed. There have apparently been no published records of this species in Hong Kong for thirty years. The author has, on two occasions, encountered terrapin traps in the same stream – a sure indication that the critically endangered Three-banded Box Terrapin (Cuora trifasciata) is present (although perhaps not for much longer). A dead specimen of the locally rare Banded Stream Snake (Opisthotropis balteata) was encountered on the village road beside this stream in 1999. The stream is also rich in dragonflies, and was recommended for protected status on the basis of its odonate fauna by Wilson (1997). Two species of Macromia (M. katae and M. urania) are present, while Gynacantha japonica and Macromidia rapida are abundant.