VOLUME 7 NUMBER 1 (January to June 2014)

Philipp. Sci. Lett. 2014 7 (1) 45-54
available online: February 9, 2014

*Corresponding author
Email Address: mudjiesantos@yahoo.com
Received: August 16, 2013
Revised: January 19, 2014
Accepted: January 20, 2014

ARTICLE

Taxonomic identification of “Ludong” fish from the Cagayan River (Philippines)

¹Genetic Fingerprinting Laboratory, Marine Fisheries Research Division, National
    Fisheries Research and Development Institute, Quezon City, Philippines
²Fisheries Resources Management Division, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic
    Resources, Regional Fisheries Office No. II, Tuguegarao City, Cagayan
³The Graduate School, University of Santo Tomas, España, Manila

"Ludong”, also known as the President’s fish, is a mullet fish belonging to the Mugilidae family that is indigenous to Cagayan River and its tributaries. Because of its rarity and apparent threatened status, it has been the subject of intense research, conservation and management. To date, its accurate taxonomic identification is unclear and only based on conflicting published reports. In this study, we established the identity of “Ludong” using morphological analysis and comparison with pictures of holotypes from the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle collection-Paris and National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution, USA. Results revealed that “Ludong” was confirmed to belong to the genus Cestraeus of the Mugilidae family. Furthermore, there were at least two species found in Cagayan River, namely Cestraeus oxyrhynchus and Cestraeus goldiei. These results established the identity of “Ludong” species which can now be used as baseline information for further studies and conservation.