Response letter of LMDA to a graduate student of Oregon State University conducting a research on Hypseleotris agilis (locally known in Mainit as Bugwan)
Greetings from Lake Mainit!
The species you mentioned "hypseleotris agilis" is locally known as "Bugwan". According to Dr. P. Escudero a professor from MSU, Marawi City who visited the Lake Mainit in early 1994 that "bugwan" is endemic in Lake Mainit and was accidentally introduced in Lake Lanao when they took some species like Carpa and Tilapia from the BFAR hatchery in Kitcharao, Agusan del Norte for fish dispersal in Lake Lanao. According to him, the Catalog of Philippine Fishes compiled by an Americans as early as 1910, Bugwan was only found in Surigao when Lake Mainit was still part of Surigao District.
Dr. Escudero was amazed to find out that Pidjanga (Glossogobius giurus) and Bugwan (Hypseleotris agilis) co-exist in Lake Mainit and they were caught at the same time and of the same fishing technique, without being a threat to each other. While in Lake Lanao, the native fish was declining due to introduction of Bugwan. This needs further research, indeed.
This phenomenon could be possible in Lake Mainit because it is the deepest lake in the Philippines with an average mean depth of 150 meters. Lake Mainit is also classified as an oligotrophic lake based on its physico-chemical, natural productivity, optical properties and morphometric characteristics (Tumanda, et. al. of MSU-Naawan Research Team).
I had a photocopy of the study by Mr. Galicia and Mr. Lopez of BFAR, Inland Fisheries and Aquatic Division which was presented to International Workshop in Muruay Garden Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand in Feb. 2000 entitled "The Biology and Fishery of Indigenous Gobies of Mainit Lake". The paper presents the results of a 17-month study on the biology, fishery and population structures of Gobies (Order Gobioidea), Glossogobius giurus "Pidjanga" (Family Gobidea) and Hypseleotris agilis "Bugwan" (Family Eleotridea) caught by beach seine in Lake Mainit from August 1997 to December 1998. The study is a component of a research grant funded by the Spanish Government.
For more information you can visit the MSU-Naawan Reasearch Team at Naawan, Misamis Oriental.
They had also an ongoing research entitled "The Sustainability Fishery Management Program for Lake Mainit", The phase 1 is about stock assessment and species inventory of aquatic life.
Thank you.
Kaiser
Project Director, LMDA
Pidjanga notes: Salamat karadjaw Mano Kaiser for responding promptly to the inquiry of the researcher. We have successfully linked her too to the BFAR, MSU Naawam, MSU Marawi, and DOST. Salamat karadjaw Ngay Peter Sy for referring the researcher to me. The study and the relevant researches on this will greatly help in promoting sustainable development for our beloved Lake Mainit. This subject is also of very special interest to me as I hope to build up a substantive database of information about our lake and hopefully store them online at www.lakemainit.com, which I singlehandedly maintain. In the near future, I will personally request the Pidjanga Blog community to contribute any information or write ups or photos about Lake Mainit and make its online presence a real and substantive Cyber Danao. I trust that you'll help me on this. Zimm
Post: Zimmbodilion (www.pidjanga.blogspot.com)
Oct 15, 2007
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