Some of the world's hyperdiverse areas, but at the same time most threatened biota are located in Southeast Asia. These biodiversity hotspots comprise important systems for investigating the processes of evolutionary diversification; a prerequisite to document, explain, and conserve the diversity of life we observe today. The freshwater ichthyofauna of Southeast Asia with around 2100 valid species, and an estimated total number of 3000 species is still poorly known, as well as the biogeographic history of the region. One of my long-term goals in this research area is to produce comparative DNA data for a number of Southeast Asian freshwater fish clades (e.g. labyrinth fishes, snakeheads, cyprinids) to address general questions regarding the origin and maintenance of biodiversity (biogeography, diversification patterns, community assembly). A focus is made on ichthyofauna of the Southeast Asian peat swamp forests, a diverse, but very neglected fauna that is critically endangered due to large scale habitat destructions.
