360 BULLETIN 18 8, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



and held until they have attained a size suitable for consumption or 

 sale. There is no evidence that eggs are hatched and young are raised 

 in the ponds, although pond culture in the true sense seems entirely 

 feasible and will in time doubtless be undertaken. Willi a fish that 

 commands such a ready sale at a comparatively high price, the con- 

 struction of suitable ponds and the conduct of the business along well- 

 proved modern lines would seem profitable as a substitute for the 

 present primitive procedure, which leaves much to be desired in the 

 matter of economical use of the water area, production of maximum 

 output, and observance of fundamental hygienic conditions in feeding, 

 growing, and holding the fish. 



A noteworthy lot of domesticated fish of this species may be seen 

 in small klongs belonging to Phya Suriwongse Wiwadhana at his 

 residence in Tonburi, Bangkok. These fish, numbering several hun- 

 dred mostly of large size, resulted from a pair of fishes brought 

 from Ayuthia more than 55 years ago by Phya Suriwongse's father. 

 They are fed, rather irregularly, on bananas, which are their favorite 

 food, but they will eat almost any kind of fruit or vegetable. They are 

 very tame and will take bananas out of one's hand. They will devour 

 small live fish that may enter their enclosure from adjacent klongs 

 but have apparently lost the ability to make way with fish of any 

 considerable size. Thus, a catfish somewhat over a meter long, which 

 tried to swallow a 'pla ka {Mo^ndius chrysophekadlon) only 15 jcm. 

 long became choked, and after several hours of futile effort to swallow 

 its capture had to be pulled from the water and the seized fish re- 

 moved from its gullet. The largest fishes in this lot, when seen by 

 the writer in 1929, were 127 to 130 cm. long. One caught and exam- 

 ined was 105 cm. long ; and it is a matter of some interest, in view of 

 the tendency of some species of Pangasius to undergo loss or atrophy 

 of the teeth with age, that in this particular example the bands of 

 teeth in the jaws and on the vomer and palatines were of full size. 



During his visit to Thailand in 1862, Bocourt became acquainted 

 with this fish, and in connection with his published description he 

 supplied the following note. The "vast lakes" to which he refers 

 were then in Thailand but are now in the province of Cambodia in 

 French Indo-China. 



The gratitude which I owe to Father Larnaudie of the foreign missions, cor- 

 respondent of the Museum of Natural History, for the friendly aid he rendered 

 to me during my sojourn in Siam and the memory of our good relations which 

 were so precious to me during the seven months I passed in that country, induce 

 me to dedicate to him this species, native of the vast lakes situated in the north 

 of the kingdom. It is said to attain the great size of 1 to 1.50 meters. Its flesh 

 is extremely nutritious and delicate ; it is reared and fattened at Ayuthia, in 

 water courses which are enclosed by bamboo grills. Owing to its high price, 

 the species does not appear in the markets of Bangkok ; also it is reserved for 

 the table of important persons. 



