Lake Bato is a freshwater

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

and the 7th largest in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It is located in the town of Bato, approximately southwest of

Iriga City Iriga, officially the City of Iriga ( Rinconada Bikol: ''Syudad ka Iriga''; bcl, Siyudad nin Iriga; fil, Lungsod ng Iriga), is component city in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of ...

, Camarines Sur Province, southeastern

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

. It has extensive marshes and swamp forests. The lake drains into a tributary of the Bicol River which enters the sea near Naga City. Average depth is , and the bottom is muddy clay. The pH value is 6.1, the average dissolved oxygen 10 p.p.m., and the total hardness (SBY) 2.4.

History

The lake was originally called ''Caligno'' by natives living around the area and a small settlement was founded on its shores during pre-Spanish times; the early settlers thrived on the lake's rich resources and use it as a primary medium of travel. The settlement flourished on to become the present-day town of

Bato, Camarines Sur Bato, officially the Municipality of Bato (Rinconada Bikol: ''Banwāan ka Bato''; Tagalog: ''Bayan ng Bato''), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 52, ...

and the lake came to be named after the town, which was established by a decree of the Superior Government (National Government) on February 15, 1758, when the Philippines was still under the

Viceroyalty of New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Amer ...

The ''Sinarapan''

Lake Bato is part of the Rinconada (Bicol) Lakes System, which also includes Lake Buhi and

Lake Baao Lake Baao is a shallow freshwater lake located in Baao, Camarines Sur in the Bicol Region of Luzon in the Philippines. It has an estimated surface area of and reaches an average of only deep. The lake is fed by local run-off and several small r ...

-Bula. It is known that the Sinarapan (''Mistichthys luzonensis''), the world's smallest commercially harvested fish in the world, is also found in its waters. ''Sinarapan'' literally means "caught by ''sarap''" in Buhi in this early historical context. However, the same fish is called ''tabios'' in Bato, Nabua, Baao and Bula, Camarines Sur. The etymology of ''tabios'', however, is quite vague. The name is not found in the scientific literature unlike "Sinarapan". It is believed that ''Tabios'' is only used in the vernacular pertaining to the local fishery.Reviving the Sinarapan: The World's Smallest Commercial Fish; Dr. V.S. Soliman; Haring Ibon Magazine
(retrieved: 3-9-09) At present, the Sinarapan is threatened by extinction due to over-fishing and other factors but efforts to conserve it are ongoing. Such is this specie's importance to the lake's ecosystem since it is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

only to this region.

Notes

References

Source: US National Imagery and Mapping Agency
(retrieved: 3-9-2009) * Haribon Foundation * Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (1984–85) * Rinconada Integrated Development Area Project Feasibility Study (1979)

External links

*Geographic data related t
Lake Bato
at OpenStreetMap {{Lakes of the Philippines Bato Landforms of Camarines Sur