Fish of the month: T. vagina

This month’s fish of the month is a goby, which lives in marine and brackish waters in the tropics. In Ilocano it’s called “Iposan”, in English “Longfin goby”. Scientists call it Trypauchen vagina. Scientists have a sense of humor, too!

In the Pangasinan province on the west coast of Luzon this fish is sometimes (after strong rains which seems to flush it out) caught and sold as a food fish. This is a pile of longfin gobies at the Bolinao fish market:

It’s certainly correct to say that the folks who buy and fry these fish eat T. vagina. I did not have the chance to buy these fish myself, I certainly would have liked to eat some T. vagina. Maybe next time!