The sinarapan or tabyos (''Mistichthys luzonensis'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of fish in the

goby Goby is a common name for many species of small to medium sized ray-finned fish, normally with large heads and tapered bodies, which are found in marine, brackish and freshwater environments. Traditionally most of the species called gobies have b ...

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Gobionellinae The Gobionellinae are a subfamily of fish which was formerly classified in the family Gobiidae, the gobies, but the 5th Edition of '' Fishes of the World'' classifies the subfamily as part of the family Oxudercidae. Members of Gobionellinae most ...

, and the only member of the

monotypic genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

''Mistichthys''. 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 elsew ...

to 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 ...

, where it occurs along the

Bicol River The Bicol River is the eighth largest river in the Philippines in terms of drainage basin size with an estimated catchment area of . The river drains a large part of southwestern Bicol Peninsula of the island of Luzon and passes through Camarines S ...

and in Lakes Buhi, Bato, Lakelets Katugday and Manapao (both in Buhi) in

Camarines Sur Camarines Sur ( bcl, Habagatan na Camarines; tl, Timog Camarines), officially the Province of Camarines Sur, is a province in the Philippines located in the Bicol Region on Luzon. Its capital is Pili and the province borders Camarines Norte and ...

and i
Danao Lake in Polangui
Albay. The fish grows up to 2.5 centimeters long. It is transparent with a few dark spots and black eyes. This

freshwater fish Freshwater fish are those that spend some or all of their lives in fresh water, such as rivers and lakes, with a salinity of less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine conditions in many ways, especially the difference in levels of s ...

lives in lakes from the shoreline to 12 meters in depth. Tabyos is considered a

delicacy A delicacy is usually a rare and expensive food item that is considered highly desirable, sophisticated, or peculiarly distinctive within a given culture. Irrespective of local preferences, such a label is typically pervasive throughout a r ...

, and it is of economic importance locally. It has been listed in the ''

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' as the "smallest commercially-harvested food fish". It is harvested with nets and palm leaves. It tends to school, making it easier to catch. It has been taken in large numbers since the 1940s, when it first became popular as food. It is fried or boiled and served with vegetables. By the 1990s it had become clear that the sinarapan was

overfished Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in the ...

and was nearing

extinction Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

. It was also negatively affected by

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

of fish in its native lakes, particularly the

Nile tilapia The Nile tilapia (''Oreochromis niloticus'') is a species of tilapia, a cichlid fish native to the northern half of Africa and the Levante area, including Israel, and Lebanon. Numerous introduced populations exist outside its natural range. It i ...

(''Oreochromis niloticus''). Conservation actions taken include the transfer of thousands of sinarapan to safer lakes where they might reproduce effectively. The transport of the fish was difficult because it is very delicate, and well over half of each load died during the process. By 2001 there was evidence of successful reproduction in the new habitat.

References

External link

Gobionellinae Freshwater fish of the Philippines Monotypic fish genera Fish described in 1902 {{Gobiiformes-stub