User:Grilledsnapper/sandbox

ONLY IN THE PHILIPPINES The Philippines leads the world in many aspects of life. Efren Reyes is considered the best pool player to ever live, Rafael "Paeng" Nepomuceno is considered the greatest ten pin bowler of all time, Manny Pacquiao is said to be the greatest boxer of all time, the Philippines basketball team was the first to score 100 points in Olympic competition and the list goes on. The Philippines Eagle is the world’s largest bird of prey and the Philippines Tarzier is the world’s smallest primate. The Philippines is the largest archipelagos in the world. It is the text capital of the world and it is the world’s largest producer of coconuts. The world’s largest pearl was discovered in the Philippines and it is the world’s largest supplier of nurses worldwide. I could go on almost indefinitely but this is supposed to be a fishing and marine article so I should change the subject, but I don’t need to. The Philippines forms an ocean region that has long been recognized as the world’s most diverse center of marine life among 400-500 species of coral, forming a coral reef only second in size to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The Philippines has the richest concentration of marine life on this planet. The Philippines exposes an astonishing assortment of marine life. Aside from the coral it has 5,000 species of mollusks, almost 1,000 species of bottom-living algae, 1,200 species of crab and thousands of other organisms that call the Philippines their home. Five of the world’s seven known species of sea turtle reside in Philippines waters and the list is growing rapidly with further discoveries. In 1953, 1815 of the world’s 2,145 fish species were recorded in the Philippines but today there are 2,824 species listed as part of Philippines marine life. If that is not enough, The Philippines is home to the greatest number of endemic fish species in the world. Global Biodiversity System on Finfish, “FishBase”, lists a total of 96 endemic marine fish species for the Philippines, up from 64 in 2004. Let’s look at a few. The Dwarf Pygmy Goby or Philippine Goby, found in brackish water and mangrove, are one of the world’s smallest fish species by mass and also the world’s shortest freshwater fish. At maturity they can grow up to 1.1 cm (0.59 inches) with an average weight of between 4-5 mg. You will need quite a few for a decent meal. Endemic to areas around Luzon including Manila, Bataan and Cavite, the Kanduli or Manila Sea Catfish is commercially fished. The male incubates the eggs in its mouth and the young leave for short periods after hatching to feed but return to the mouth when distressed. The parent fish does not eat until the young become independent at 30-44 mm, contracting their stomach significantly. Many consider the Bigaong or Silver Perch the most delectable fish in the Philippines. The species is endemic to Luzon and still found in great numbers in Lake Taal and the Pampanga River. Almost every known species of shark and ray reside in Philippine waters. According to “FishBase”, of roughly 163 species in the Philippines, 16% are possibly endemic. It’s More Fun in the Philippines.