FRESH- WATER FISHES OF SIAM, OR THAILAND 5 



various collections, all published articles on the subject have been 

 consulted and the information therein has been fully utilized in pre- 

 paring the present work. The ichthyological literature of Thailand 

 is referred to in the section following. Among the ichthyologists of a 

 former period to whom the writer feels especially indebted because of 

 their indispensable works are Pieter Bleeker, Albert Giinther, and 

 Henri fimile Sauvage. 



ICHTHYOLOGICAL LITERATURE OF THAILAND 



A considerable literature pertaining to Siamese fishes has been ac- 

 cumulating for more than 80 years. Some of the published articles 

 have dealt with single species, genera, or families ; some have had only 

 incidental references to local forms in general reviews or studies of 

 families; others have dealt with the fishes of particular waters; and 

 some have been based on more or less extensive collections in various 

 districts of the country. 



The first references to Siamese fresh-water fishes in ichthyological 

 publications seem to have been in papers by Pieter Bleeker (1819- 

 1878), with the exception of a single species {Ophicephalus serpen- 

 tinus) described from Siam in 1831 by Cuvier and Valenciennes. 



It was to have been expected that Bleeker, who specialized in Orien- 

 tal fishes and, according to Dr. Theodore Gill, was "the most active 

 ichthyologist that ever lived," should have been interested in the fish 

 fauna of Siam and should have made noteworthy contributions there- 

 on. It does not appear that Bleeker ever visited Siam, but he had 

 opportunity to examine and report on collections made by others. He 

 published seven papers dealing wholly with Siamese fishes between 

 1860 and 1865, as well as several others in which Siamese fishes were 

 mentioned or figured. Several papers, in identical form, appeared 

 more or less simultaneously in two different scientific journals. His 

 monumental "Atlas Ichthyologique des Indes Orientales Neer- 

 landaises" (9 vols., folio, 1862-1877) contains various references to the 

 occurrence of East Indian fishes in Siam, and is indispensable to stu- 

 dents of fishes of the Oriental region. The first of the Siamese papers 

 (1859-60 [239] ) identified species represented in an album of drawings 

 said to have been made by Count Castelnau in Siam. In 1865 Bleeker 

 (347) gave a list of 89 species of fishes examined by him in the Musee 

 du Jardin des Plantes a Paris, which had been collected in the Menam 

 Chao Phya by Dr. Bocourt. Twelve species noted as new were not 

 described at the time ("restent a decrire") but were subsequently de- 

 scribed by Bleeker in various publications with the exception of three 

 catfishes, which were named in a publication by Bocourt. In 1865 



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