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- Title:
- Sardine Enigma
- Description:
- Morga pinpointed as ordinary food of natives the LAULAU. It is a 'very small fish which is netted, dried in the sun or air, then cooked in various ways.' LAULAU ends a paragraph about fish caught at Bonbon Lake in Batangas. In 1953 an updated checklist of Philippine fishes was published. Sardinella fimbriata, the round-bodied sardine, was called Lao-Lao or Tamban Lao-Lao commonly. It was a marine species that entered river mouths and was abundant in central and southern Philippines. It also lived in waters of East India, the East Indies and China. In 1890, Jose Rizal published from Paris an annotated version of Morga’s book. He ventured that LAULAU may have been TAWILIS. Today we know tawilis is the world’s only freshwater sardine and is found in Taal Lake, the current name of Bonbon Lake. The Lake was linked to Balayan Bay by Pansipit River, an actively navigated channel. An eruption in 1754, however, silted up the mouth and a narrower river eventually formed nearby. TAWILIS is Sardinella tawilis, not included in the 1953 list. Admittedly the list was a work in progress. One wonders if the saltwater S. fimbriata, having been isolated in the lake, evolved into the freshwater S. tawilis.
- Subjects:
- Lao-Lao Tamban Lao-Lao Tawilis Fishes
- Exhibition:
- Antonio Morga 30
- Source:
- Image from “Pronouncing Gazetteer,” 1902
- Type:
- Image;Still Image
- Format:
- image/jpeg
Source
- Preferred Citation:
- "Sardine Enigma", Philippine Food History, Felice P. Sta. Maria
- Reference Link:
- felicepstamaria.net/items/coll056.html