I 



FRESH-WATER FlSHES OF SlAM, OR THAlLAT^D 350 



PANGASIUS LARNAUDII Bocourt 



Figure 81 



Pangasius larnaudii Bleeker, 1865 (347), p. 34 (nomea nudum) (Siam). — 



BocouET, 1866, p. 15, pi. 4, figs. 2, 2a (Siam).— Hora, 1923b, p. 167 (Nonta- 



buri).— ViPULYA, 1923, p. 227 (Paknampo, Pakhai). 

 Pangasius lamaudi Bleeker, 1865 (356), p. 175 (nomen nudum) (Siam). — 



SAtrvAGE, 1881, p. 162 (Siam, Grand Lakes of Cambodia); 1883b, p. 154 



(Menam Chao Phya). 

 Pangasius hurgini Fowler, 1937, p. 141, figs. 24-26 (Bangkok). 



Described from Thailand by Bocourt in 1866, this species is peculiar 

 to that country and to the adjoining parts of Indo-China. It is prob- 

 ably the commonest and best-known member of the genus in Thailand, 

 and one of the most popular of the local catfishes. Its natural range 

 is restricted to the Menam Chao Phya and connecting streams in the 

 great central plain, and specimens have been collected and examined 

 critically from below Bangkok to Paknampo. The local range may in 

 time be considerably extended by the escape of fish from artificial 

 ponds. 



Figure 81. — Pangasius larnaudii Bocourt. Drawn by Luang Masya; courtesy of 



the Thailand Government. 



The fish is most readily recognized by a large round black humeral 

 spot, possessed by no other species, together with a gray-blue back, 

 light green head, silvery or nacreous underparts, silvery iris, and ver- 

 milion ventral and pectoral fins. 



Owing to the high repute in which the fish is held for food and its 

 ready adaptability for life in small enclosures, its rearing in ponds for 

 domestic use and sale has been practiced commercially for at least 80 

 years. Young fish from open waters are introduced in the ponds 



