GOBIES OF THE PHILIPPINES AND THE 

 CHINA SEA 



By ALBERT W. HERRE 

 INTRODUCTION 



This great group of fishes is of the first economic importance 

 in the northern end of Luzon, although in most parts of the earth 

 it is of no commercial value. 



The gobies are small fishes, mostly carnivorous bottom dwell- 

 ers, living along or near the shore in shallow bays and estua- 

 ries, and also in fresh-water swamps, streams, and lakes. 

 Some species seem to be confined to coral reefs, others to the 

 tide pools of "stern and rock-bound" coasts; many kinds lie on 

 the sand, and some burrow in the mud between or below tide 

 levels. A few species spend much of their time out of the 

 water, chasing insects on the strand, on mud flats, or in the 

 mangrove swamps. Some cling to the rocks or gravelly bottom 

 in swift mountain streams, where few fishes are able to with- 

 stand the rush of water. While the habitat of the group is 

 mostly marine, several species live only in fresh water. Many 

 other species spend most of their life in fresh-water streams, 

 returning to the sea to spawn. The ascent of the streams by 

 innumerable hosts of the fry of these catadromous species 

 gives rise to a very important industry in the Philippines, and 

 it is through the study of and the attempt to conserve this 

 fishery that this monograph has been prepared. 



During the months from October to March the ipon fisheries 

 are of great importance to the inhabitants of the coasts of the 

 Ilocano provinces and the northern coast of Luzon, especially 

 at the mouths of Abra, Abulug, and Cagayan Rivers. Ipon is 

 an Ilocano name for the fry of the various species of gobies 

 that spawn in the sea, but which spend most of their life in 

 the fresh-water streams of the interior. Ipon, or the fry of 

 gobies, occur also in noticeable quantity along the coast of Zam- 

 bales, at the mouths of the Agusan, the Cagayan de Misamis, 

 and the Rio Grande de Mindanao, and perhaps other places in 

 the Philippines, but it is only along the north and northwest 

 coasts of Luzon that they occur in such enormous quantities that 



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