FRESH- WATER FISHES OF SIAM, OR THAILAND 69 



of the swamps tributary thereto. At times it is very abundant as far 

 inland as Paknampo, at the head of the Menam Chao Phya, in Janu- 

 ary and other months of the dry season, and large quantities may be 

 taken to market from the nearby swamps. 



The fish reaches a length of nearly 1 meter. The largest actually 

 measured in this country was 83 cm. long, from the Krat River, in 

 Southeastern Thailand. 



The evidence is not conclusive, but the statements of fishermen and 

 Government officials indicate that it breeds in swamps and ricefields 

 from June to August. 



In the special fishery for this species, traps baited with fish are set 

 in swamps, canals, and along river banks, and 2-pronged spears are 

 used in holes in river banks. The fish has considerable economic im- 

 portance, as it is popular as food and may easily be kept alive in tubs 

 of water or even out of water for a long time. The usual practice is 

 to cut the body into transverse pieces and cook it with curry. 



The vernacular name, jyl^i lai^ is shared with other eels. 



Order Synbranchia 



Two families of this order of eellike fishes are represented in the 

 fresh waters of Thailand. 



la. Teeth in bands on jaws and palatines ; gill membranes confluent and attached 

 to isthmus by a median septum dividing the gill openings ; gills vestigial, 

 on 3 arches Flutidae 



1&. Teeth in a single series on jaws and palatines, expanding into a pluriserial 

 patch or band at symphysis of each jaw ; gill membranes confluent and 

 not attached to isthmus, the gill openings not being divided by a septum ; 

 gills functional, on 4 arches Synbranchidae 



Family FLUTIDAE: Swamp-Eels 



Genus FLUTA Bloch 



Flnta Bloch, in Schneider, Systema ichthyologiae . . ., p. 565, 1801. (Type, 

 Monopterus javanensis Lacepede.) 



FLUTA ALBA (Zniew) 



Miiraena alba Zuiew, 1793, p. 299. 



Monopterus javanensis Blkeker, 1865 (347). p. 35 (Siam) ; 1865 (356), p. 176 



(Siam).— GtJNTHEE, 1870, vol. 8, p. 14 (Siam).— Volz, 1906, p. 165 (Menam 



Chao Phya). 

 Monopterus javanirus von Maktens, 1876, p. 405 ( Bangkok ).^ — Sauvage, 1881, 



p. 164 (Siam). 

 Monopterus albus Weber and dk Beaufort, 1916, vol. 3, p. 413, fig. 211 (Siam).— 



FowLEK, 1934a, p. 86 (Chiengmal, Bangkok). 

 Fliita alba Smith, 1934b, p. 300 (Siam generally). 



In ponds, canals, ditches, ricefields, and swamps all over Thailand 

 this snub-nosed eel may be found in considerable numbers. Specimens 



590087 — 45 6 



