Leaving plants for a while

Let us leave flowers and plants for a while. Let us talk about fish. I have been posting plants and some places for a few years, then maybe you will go along with me talking about fish! But i am sure you are not familiar with this fish. This is the smallest fish harvested for commerce. Most Filipinos don't know about this too, or have seen this, we were just a bit lucky!


'Sinarapan' or Mistichthys luzonensis is endemic in the Philippines found only in Lake Buhi, Lake Bato and Bicol River in Camarines Sur province. This province is in Luzon, the basis for its species name. Even at maturity its length only reaches about 12.3 mm. Being a delicacy it is a candidate for extinction, so care should be done to protect this species.

'Sinarapan' is transparent with only the eyes and the entrails being black. You can see its size in relation to a human palm. I even cropped the palm to magnify it a bit. 

From the nearest highway to Lake Bato, we walked through rice fields, hiked muddy circuitous paths, and crossed two rivers via hanging bridges. It was high noon, fortunately there are some trees and coconuts along the way that moderately sheltered us from the intense heat of the sun. 

A tree in Buhi town proper fully clothed with another plant species growing in its trunk. This is typical when the area is very high in humidity.

Top and bottom: the bridge we crossed to reach Lake Bato, which is still beyond these coconut plantation. 

It was a big challenge for me to cross this bridge that sway to our steps, and made me a bit dizzy and scared. Only one handle guides us through, which i found more difficult to hold because my short arms can't reach it. It took a long time for me to navigate the span of this bridge, which the locals cross so fast without hassle.

We found this purplish black basil near the path during our hike

A fisherman catching the famous 'sinarapan' in Lake Bato using specially made nets. 

The fisherman turning over his catch to his wife, either for their own food or for sale.

Our companion trying her luck to catch some 'sinarapan' using a very small fishnet. 

We were treated by the barangay chairman to lunch with two native dishes of 'sinarapan'. Eating it is the best reward we got after the hike. At last we were able to taste this famous small fish, which might not be available anymore for the next generations.

This is linked to Outdoor Wednesday, but the logo is a bit shy to show up! It is also joined at the end of Watery Wednesday.