Profile
Dr. Tan Koh Siang
Dr. Tan Koh Siang
PRINCIPAL RESEARCH FELLOW
Dr Tan Koh Siang is a Senior Research Fellow and the Head of the Marine Biology and Ecology Laboratory at the Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI).
He obtained his PhD (Zoology) at the National University of Singapore in 1996 and was a postdoctoral scholar at the Swire Institute of Marine Science, University of Hong Kong before joining TMSI in 1997.
His research interests focus on the systematics, biology and feeding ecology of tropical marine molluscs, with occasional forays into sponge taxonomy and seawall ecology.
Areas Of Interest
- Biodiversity and systematics of tropical mussels (Bivalvia: Mytilidae)
- Biology of marine invasive bivalves
- Biodiversity and feeding ecology of predatory marine gastropods
- Deep-sea biodiversity in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, East Pacific Ocean
- Seawall ecology
Research partners/collaborations
- Ocean Mineral Singapore
- National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia
Highlights
Together with colleagues from the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum and National Parks Board, we successfully completed the five-year Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey (CMBS) in 2016, which included the publication of the proceedings of two international workshops based in the Johor and Singapore Straits in the Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. Three volumes in two supplements, comprising some 54 original papers, have described some 24 marine invertebrate species new to science and documented more than 260 new records for Singapore. These efforts are in line with a long-term objective to establish a reliable and robust biodiversity baseline in a constantly changing coastal environment.
My current research projects include deep-sea biodiversity assessment of the Singapore claim area in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, eastern Pacific Ocean, biology of native and introduced mussels, and invertebrate interactions on seawall surfaces.
Recent publications
Tan, K.S., Tan, S.H.M., Sanpanich, K., Duangdee, T. & Ambarwati R. (2023) A new lineage of fresh- and brackish-water mussels (Bivalvia, Mytilidae) from Southeast Asia. Zoologica Scripta https://doi.org/10.1111/zsc.12585
Lee, Y.-L., Hui, D.S.-E., Loo, P.L., Toh, T.C., Kikuzawa, Y.P. & Tan, K.S. (2023) Intertidal seawall communities in Singapore: Are they all one and the same? Ecological Engineering 187:106860 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2022.106860
Tong, S.J.W., Gan, B.Q. & Tan, K.S. (2022) Community structure of deep-sea benthic metazoan meiofauna in the polymetallic nodule fields in the eastern Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone, Pacific Ocean. Deep-Sea Research I 188 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2022.103847
Tan, K.S., Tan, S.H.M., Sanpanich, K., Duangdee, T. & Ambarwati R. (2022) Xenostrobus or Vignadula (Bivalvia: Mytilidae)? A taxonomic re-evaluation of small black mussels from the upper intertidal zone of the estuaries of Southeast Asia. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 196(1): 316–345. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac031
Tan, K.S. (2021) Deep-sea Protobranchia (Bivalvia) collected in the Sunda Strait and Indian Ocean off the southwest coast of Java, Indonesia with a description of a new species of Propeleda (Nuculanidae). Raffles Bulletin of Biology Supplement 36: 346–385.
Tan, K.S., Tan, S.H.M., Sanpanich, K., Duangdee, T. & Ambarwati R. (2021) Taxonomic re-description and relationships of two mat-forming mussels from the Indo-Pacific region, with a proposed new genus. Phuket Marine Biological Center Special Publication 78: 77–115.
Chuar, C.H., Tong, S.J.W., Chim, C.K., Wong, H.P.S. & Tan, K.S. (2020) Abyssal macrofaunal community structure in the polymetallic nodule exploration area at the easternmost region of the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone, Pacific Ocean. Deep Sea Research 161: 103284
Wells, F.E., Tan, K.S., Todd, P.A., Jaafar, Z. & Yeo, D.C.J. (2019) A low number of introduced marine species in the tropics: A case study from Singapore. Management of Biological Invasions 10(1): 23–45.
Kang, D.-R., Tan, K.S. & Liu, L.L. (2018) Egg-collar morphology and identity of nine species of Naticidae (Gastropoda) in Taiwan, with an assessment of their phylogenetic relationships. Journal of Molluscan Studies 84: 354–378.
Lim, J.Y., Tay, T.S., Lim, C.S., Lee, S.S.C., Teo, S.L.M. & Tan K.S. (2018) Mytella strigata (Bivalvia: Mytilidae): An alien mussel recently introduced to Singapore and spreading rapidly. Molluscan Research 38: 170–186.
Lim S.C., Wiklund H., Glover A.G., Dahlgren T.G. & Tan K.S. (2017) A new genus and species of abyssal sponge commonly encrusting polymetallic nodules in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, East Pacific Ocean. Systematics and Biodiversity 2017: 1–13.
