Thursday, January 26, 2006

Farewell to the Pandaka pygmaea


Our smallest fish with the redundant name of pandaka pygmaea is no longer the smallest. I remembered memorizing that particular scientific name in Grade 2 and can still remember it now but I don't even know its common name.
It is the dwarf pygmy goby, a colorless and nearly transparent species found in the streams and lakes of Luzon. Males have an average length of 8.7 mm. and weigh 4-5 mg.
We had the goby minted for our ten centavo coin. We fished it till near oblivion. Anthropologists berated it because we are so proud of it, as well as of other "smallest" things like the tarsier and the mousedeer that spoke daw of our "smallness" as a people.
But now, scientists are hailing Paedocypris progenetica, a member of the carp family that can only grow to 7.9 millimeters (0.31 inches). It is found in the acidic peats of Indonesia.
"The previous record for small size, according to the Natural History Museum in London, was held by an 8-millimeter species of Indo-Pacific goby." That was you.
To add insult to injury, they are touting the sexual prowess of the P. progenetica.
"The males have enlarged pelvic fins and exceptionally large muscles that may be used to grasp the females during copulation," the AP report said.
No one talks about the Pandaka like that! Sex prowess of a Pinoy? Ha ha ha.
We are not the smallest whatever anymore.
Are you happy now, Landa Jocano?

2 Comments:

Blogger philtrvia01 said...

in philippine history pandaka pygmea was the smallest fish on that so called year. as we change they also change theirs a lot of species are undiscovered maybe much smaller than what you stated. but then i like Pandaka pygmea most, for it is the first found record. nice trivia

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philippine trivia

1:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Id like to see those fishes personally,I'm from the visayas area its critically engendered.

2:12 PM  

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