EXPLAINER: The truth about the mysterious ‘baklang alimango’

Philippine fisheries literature identifies the baklang alimango category as immature females

Go to a wet market in the Philippines looking for alimango and you might be asked a question that sounds like the beginning of a joke: “Lalaki, babae, o bakla?”

Yes, baklang alimango is a real thing in the Philippine seafood trade. But no, scientists have not discovered a uniquely Filipino gay crab.

The term bakla is a traditional market classification for an immature female mud crab—one that has not yet fully developed the physical and reproductive characteristics associated with a mature female.

And this isn’t simply palengke folklore.

Science actually uses the market term

Philippine fisheries literature classifies mud crabs according to sex and gonad maturity. Alongside males and mature females is a category labeled “immature female,” with grades known as BKL 1, BKL 2 and BKL 3.

What does BKL mean?

Bakla.

A 2023 study on mangrove crab production and marketing in the Philippines similarly recorded three commercial classifications: male, female and immature crabs locally called bakla. Researchers described the latter as crabs that were “not fully developed into females.”

Even the Department of Science and Technology’s Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development has used the term “baklang alimango” in discussing mud crab research.

So why call it ‘bakla’?

The answer becomes clearer when you turn an alimango upside down.

The abdominal flap—or “apron”—of a male mud crab is narrow and pointed. A mature female has a much broader and more rounded abdomen.

The immature female falls somewhere in between.

Its abdomen is broader than the typical male’s but has not yet developed the broad, semicircular appearance of a mature female. This in-between appearance apparently inspired Filipino traders to call it bakla.

In other words, “bakla” is a folk and commercial label, not a third biological sex for mud crabs.

No, a male crab isn’t turning into a female

This is where the story gets muddled.

Some explanations circulating in Philippine markets claim that baklang alimango are males transitioning into females or crabs possessing both male and female reproductive characteristics.

In June 2026, vendors at the Navotas Fish Port were even quoted describing baklang alimango in similar terms.

But established Philippine fisheries literature identifies the commercial bakla category much more straightforwardly: an immature female.

So your alimango isn’t changing sex before reaching your dinner table.

And some people specifically want the ‘bakla’

For seafood lovers, the distinction isn’t merely academic.

Female alimango are prized for their rich orange ovaries or aligue, while males are often sought for their meat. Baklang alimango, meanwhile, have developed their own following.

Philippine fisheries literature shows that bakla crabs are commercially graded according to the development of their gonads and can command good prices in the market.

The category remains very much alive today. In June 2026, baklang alimango at the Navotas Fish Port were reportedly selling wholesale for around ₱600 to ₱650 per kilo, depending on supply and demand.

So the next time a seafood vendor asks whether you want your alimango lalaki, babae, or bakla, don’t assume they’re pulling your leg.

The baklang alimango is real. The name is very Filipino. The crab, biologically speaking, is simply a young female that hasn’t fully matured yet.

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