Endemic Animals and Plants
Lake Matano is home to many species of endemic fish and other animals (e.g. Caridina shrimps, Parathelphusid crabs and Tylomelania snails) as well as many plants. The endemic fishes of Matano have been compared to that of the species swarms of the Rift Valley Lakes of Africa. While not as diverse, they are thought to have all arisen from a single ancestor species and diversified into numerous different species, which now fill many of the previously vacant ecological niches, as can be seen in the family Telmatherinidae. Endemic and near-endemic fishes from other families include Glossogobius matanensis, Mugilogobius adeia, Nomorhamphus weberi and Oryzias matanensis. Many of the endemics are seriously threatened due to pollution and predation/competition from a wide range of introduced fishes, including flowerhorn cichlids.
The water snake Enhydris matannensis is only known from the vicinity of Lake Matano and on Muna Island.
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