Pandaka pygmaea 2013 stamp of the Philippines

The dwarf pygmy goby or Philippine goby (''Pandaka pygmaea'') is a

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

species of fish in the

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 botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

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 mostl ...

from

brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuary ...

and

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

areas in Southeast Asia. It is one of the smallest fish species in the world. Males reach maturity at a

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of fish anatomy, their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is ...

of and can reach up to in standard length, while the females can grow up to in

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish measured f ...

. Adults weigh around . It is known as ''bia'' and ''tabios'' in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

., ''Guide to the Philippine Flora and Fauna, Band IX'', (undated).

Distribution and habitat

''P. pygmaea'' was initially reported as being

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

Malabon Malabon, officially the City of Malabon (), is a highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 380,522 people. Located just north of the city of Manila, Malabon is ...

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...

in the Philippines, where found at shady river banks. The species has now been

extirpated Local extinction, also extirpation, is the termination of a species (or other taxon) in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinctions. Local extinctions mark a chan ...

from this area as it was

reclaimed Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ...

, leading to its status as

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

. More recently, it has been discovered at a range of other locations in Southeast Asia, including

Culion Island Culion, officially the Municipality of Culion (), is a municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 23,213 people. Culion consists primarily of Culion Island as well as 41 minor sur ...

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. As part of the aquarium trade, it was imported into Germany in 1958. ''P. pygmaea'' lives in shallow, tropical

and

areas where mainly found on muddy bottoms or among plants. Also known before as National Fish in the Philippines on 1994 until recently they changed it to milk fish.

Appearance and anatomy

A colorless and nearly transparent species, the dwarf pygmy goby has a moderately elongated and robust body. Males are slender with nearly straight dorsal and ventral profiles, while the females appear stouter with the dorsal profile slightly curved, the belly protuberant, and the ventral outline strongly arched. The head of the ''P. pygmaea'' is large and blunt. The head and nape are naked. The upper and lower profiles converge and are pointed if viewed from the sides. The head is characteristically broader than deep. The head is very short, broad and rounded. The mouth is very oblique, with a projecting lower jaw and chin. The posterior angle of the maxillary extends beneath the anterior part of the eye, up to the middle of pupil. It possesses two rows of teeth in each jaw. The outer row of teeth inside the upper jaw is larger and more widely spaced, while the inner row is characteristically minute. The first dorsal fin is low, much in advance of the second dorsal fin but not reaching the second dorsal fin when depressed. The pectoral and ventral fins are pointed, with the latter about as long as the former or longer. The anal papilla is very short and rounded in females, but is longer and very slender in males. ''P. pygmaea'' have dark spots, which forms 4 cross-bands, over the sides of its body. The bases of the fins are heavily pigmented, except for the ventral fins. It has 22 to 25 scales in longitudinal series.

Behavior

Feeding

This species feeds on

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...

Reproduction

''P. pygmaea'' is an

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...

species.

Miscellaneous

''Pandaka pygmaea'' was once portrayed on a

Philippine The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

ten

centavo The centavo (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese 'one hundredth') is a fractional monetary unit that represents one hundredth of a basic monetary unit in many countries around the world. The term comes from Latin ''centu ...

coin where, uniquely for a wildlife portrayal on coinage, it is depicted at life-size. The genus name is derived from the Filipino word ''pandak'', meaning "dwarf" or "short of stature".

References

External links

* *
Photograph and Description of Pandaka pygmaea, Herre, 1927, Dwarf pygmy goby, Pandaka pygmaea, NSMT-P 66047, 1.0 cm SL, Fishes of Libong Island, Kahaku.Go.jp
retrieved on July 14, 2007
Pandaka pygmaea, Herre, 1927, Taxonomic Serial No.: 172193, ITIS.gov
retrieved on: July 14, 2007
Chen, Loris. Gobies: Going, Going, Gone? A WebQuest for 6-8th Grade (Science) (lchen@wyckoffschools.org), Ocean Biographic Information System, Census of Marine Life, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 2002-2007. IOBIS.org
retrieved on July 14, 2007

retrieved on July 14, 2007 {{Taxonbar, from=Q244168 Pandaka (fish) Fish of Indonesia Freshwater fish of Indonesia Fish of the Philippines Freshwater fish of the Philippines Fish of Singapore Taxa named by Albert William Herre Fish described in 1927