Carnaza is a

barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolita ...

in the Philippines located on the island of the same name. The turtle-shaped island is located north of Malapascua Island which itself is north of mainland

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 16 ...

. Carnaza is then the northernmost offshore island and barangay of the municipality of Daanbantayan. The island is bordered on all sides by the

Visayan Sea The Visayan Sea is a sea in the Philippines surrounded by the islands of the Visayas. It is bounded by the islands Masbate to the north, Panay to the west, Leyte to the east, and Cebu and Negros to the south. The sea is connected to several b ...

Topography

The island's topography includes coastal plains, mangrove swamps, lagoons and semi-rounded hills. Its coastal plain constitutes about 9.7% while semi-rounded hills constitute the biggest portion of the island covering about 14.4% of the total area. The mangrove forest has an area of about 10.1 hectares or % of the island. The highest point was measured at above sea level. Within the small island are the

sitio A ''sitio'' (Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own barangay if its popul ...

s of Candionesio, Carnaza, Daanbaryo, Linao, Liogliog and Pantao.

Flora

The dominant upland vegetation is ipil-ipil (''Leucaena leucocephala''), which covered most of the slopes. Agricultural crops like coconuts, cassava, banana, sugarcane, corn and breadfruit, among others, are present in some areas.

Fauna

On a paper report on the survey conducted on the island on 16–20 July 1990, a total of 18 species of birds representing 7 orders and 15 families were identified and reported. The most common species were

grey-rumped swiftlet The grey-rumped swiftlet (''Collocalia marginata'') or grey-rumped swiftlet, is a small bird in the swift family Apodidae. It is endemic to some islands in the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It ...

s (''Collocalia marginata''), white-collared kingfishers (''Halcyon chloris''),

pied triller The pied triller (''Lalage nigra'') is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is found in Brunei, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officia ...

s (''Lalage nigra''), black-naped orioles (''Oriolus chinensis''), Philippine magpie robins (''Copsychus saularis''), Malaysia fantails (''Rhipidura javanica''),

white-breasted woodswallow The white-breasted woodswallow (''Artamus leucorynchus'') is a medium sized passerine bird which breeds from the Andaman Islands east through Indonesia and northern Australia. The name " woodswallow" is a misnomer as they are not closely related t ...

s (''Artamus leucorhynchus''), glossy starlings (''Aplonis panayensis''), yellow-breasted sunbirds (''Nectarinia jugularis'') and

Eurasian tree sparrow The Eurasian tree sparrow (''Passer montanus'') is a passerine bird in the Old World sparrow, sparrow family with a rich chestnut Crown (anatomy), crown and nape, and a black patch on each pure white cheek. The sexes are similarly plumaged, an ...

s (''Passer montanus''). For the rest of the species, either only one or two individuals were seen or only either calls were heard. The islanders reported that the ''tabon'' bird ( dusky megapode, ''Megapodius freycinet'') used to be numerous in Carnaza Island. Also listed on the report are the orders

Cephalopoda A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent hea ...

, Gastropoda and Pelecypoda. Two genera of cephalopods were identified, namely; ''

Sepia Sepia may refer to: Biology * ''Sepia'' (genus), a genus of cuttlefish Color * Sepia (color), a reddish-brown color * Sepia tone, a photography technique Music * ''Sepia'', a 2001 album by Coco Mbassi * ''Sepia'' (album) by Yu Takahashi * " ...

'' and ''

Sepioteuthis ''Sepioteuthis'', commonly known as reef squids or oval squids, is a genus of pencil squid. Reef squids are easily recognizable by their large rounded fins that extend along almost the entire length of their mantles, giving them a superficial r ...

''. A total of 36 species belonging to 19 families of gastropods have been listed. Further study is needed to make a complete listing.

References

{{reflist Islands of Cebu Barangays of Cebu