Mistichthys luzonensis Smith, 1902
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The sinarapan or tabyos (Mistichthys luzonensis) is a species of fish in the goby subfamily, Gobionellinae, and the only member of the monotypic genus Mistichthys. It is endemic to the Philippines, where it occurs along the Bicol River and in Lakes Buhi, Bato, Lakelets Katugday and Manapao (both in Buhi) in Camarines Sur and in Danao Lake in Polangui, Albay. The fish grows up to 2.5 centimeters long. It is transparent with a few dark spots and black eyes. This freshwater fish lives in lakes from the shoreline to 12 meters in depth. Tabyos is considered a delicacy, and it is of economic importance locally. It has been listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the "smallest commercially-harvested food fish". It is harvested with nets and palm leaves. It tends to school, making it easier to catch. It has been taken in large numbers since the 1940s, when it first became popular as food. It is fried or boiled and served with vegetables.
Wikipedia contributors, Sinarapan; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T23:13:14.129154+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Mistichthys luzonensis Smith, 1902
- Name authority
- Smith, 1902
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Gobiiformes
- Family
- Gobiidae
- Genus
- Mistichthys
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderGobiiformes
- familyGobiidae Cuvier, 1816
- subfamilyGobionellinae Bleeker, 1874
- genusMistichthys Smith, 1902
- speciesMistichthys luzonensis Smith, 1902
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Gobiopterus luzonensis (Smith, 1902) (Smith, 1902) | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Smith, H. M. (1902). The smallest known vertebrate. Science (New Series), v. 15 (no. 366): 30–31. [Also as: Le plus petit vertébré connu. Rev. Scient., 1902, (4) 17: 345–346.]. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:43NXV. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.