Philippines country information

Common names: Balila, Bulong-unas, Espada
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: commercial | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments:
National Checklist:
Country Information: httpss://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/rp.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Nakamura, I. and N.V. Parin, 1993
National Database:

Classification / Names

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Perciformes (Perch-likes) > Trichiuridae (Cutlassfishes) > Lepidopinae
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL

Common names from other countries

سمك-حُسام صغير الرَّاس, 小带鱼, Poisson-sabre asbas, ... more

Main reference

Nakamura, I. and N.V. Parin. 1993. (Ref. 6181)
References | Biblio | Coordinator : Parin, Nikolay V. | Collaborators

Size / Weight / Age

Max length : 87.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 112044); 97.5 cm (female); common length : 50.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9688)

Environment

Marine; brackish; benthopelagic; depth range 0 - 80 m (Ref. 6181)

Climate / Range

Tropical, preferred ?; 41°N - 11°S, 47°E - 135°E (Ref. 6181)

Distribution

Indo-West Pacific: including the Persian Gulf, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Gulf of Thailand, China and southern Korean Peninsula.
Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Short description

Dorsal spines (total): 3; Dorsal soft rays (total): 140. Body extremely elongate, compressed and tapering to a point. Anal fin reduced to minute spinules buried in skin; caudal fin absent; pelvic fins present but reduced to a scale-like process. Lateral line running almost straight along midbody or slightly nearer the ventral contour. Color of fresh specimens steely blue with metallic reflections, becoming silvery gray after death.

Inhabits coastal waters and often comes near the surface at night. Enters estuaries (Ref. 1479). Feeds on a wide variety of small fishes, squids and crustaceans. Marketed mainly in dried and salted forms (sometimes fresh), mixed with other trichiurids. Caught mainly with shore seines, bag nets and coastal bottom trawls in coastal waters down to about 50 m in West Bengal to Madras and around Bombay of India.

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration

Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development

Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance

References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Allele frequencies
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Mass conversion

Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805)
PD₅₀ = 0.7500 many relatives (e.g. carps) 0.5 - 2.0 few relatives (e.g. lungfishes)

Trophic Level (Ref. 69278)
4.2 ±0.57 se; Based on food items.

Resilience (Ref. 69278)
High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.)

Vulnerability (Ref. 59153)
Low to moderate vulnerability (30 of 100)

Price category (Ref. 80766)
Medium

Eupleurogrammus muticus (Gray, 1831)