292 BULLETIN 188, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



and in addition a broader black band on the caudal peduncle at the 

 base of the caudal fin. In the Menam Chao Phya in the Bangkok 

 district, at about a length of 8 to 8.5 cm., the cross bands disappear, 

 although the band on the caudal peduncle may persist a little longer. 



A specimen, 8.3 cm. long, from the Menam Chao Phya at Nontaburi 

 is a female with well-developed ovaries. A length exceeding 15 cm. 

 is often attained. The largest specimens examined, collected by H. G. 

 Deignan in the Meping at Chiengmai, in April 1935, were 21.1 and 

 23.5 cm. long, the smaller a male, the larger a female with ripe eggs. 



The fish is often seen in the markets, and is known to fishermen, 

 market men, and the general public as pla jnu (hog fish), which is 

 sometimes amplified to pla mu hhao (white hog fish) to distinguish 

 it from B. hymenophysa. The name pla mu is in allusion to the large 

 erectile suborbital spine suggestive of the tusk of a hog. 



BOTIA BEAUFORT! H. M. Smith 

 FiGUBE 58 



Botia beauforti Smith, 1931a, p. 2, fig. 1 (Nakon Sritamarat). 



The type specimen of this species came from the Tadi River at 

 Ban Kiriwong, Province of Nakon Sritamarat, Peninsular Thailand. 

 It is 17.5 cm. lonjr. 





Figure 58. — Botia beauforti H. M. Smith. Drawn by Luang Masya; courtesy of the 



Thailand Government. 



The species is strikingly marked : The body and head are light 

 gray-green; on the body there are four irregular rows of dark brown 

 spots each surrounded by a pale ring ; on each side of the back from 

 the head to two-thirds the distance to the dorsal fin there are five 

 parallel longitudinal dark brown lines, followed bj'' an area of small 

 dark brown spots extending to the posterior end of the dorsal base; 

 on the head are several dark brown curved stripes; the dorsal and 

 caudal fins are bright orange with transverse rows of black spots ; the 

 anal fin is yellow with brown spots on basal half; the ventral and 

 pectoral fins are pale orange. 



