FRESH-WATER FISHES OF SIAM, OR THAILAND 451 



found in sluggisli streams, it is essentially a fish of swamps, ponds, and 

 lakes, and in Thailand it is known particularly from the Talc Noi, 

 near the Tale Sap, and other sluggish waters in the Peninsula, and 

 from Bung Borapet in Central Thailand. 



A length of 30 cm. is reached. The largest actually measured in 

 Thailand was 25.5 cm. over all. Several specimens, 21 cm. long, 

 obtained at Nakon Sritamarat October 19, 1923, were ripe males. 



Fish as long as 10 or 12 cm. from Bung Borapet proved very attrac- 

 tive in small balanced aquaria in Bangkok. The general bright silvery 

 skin is relieved by vertical black bars on the head, black longitudinal 

 stripes on the body following the rows of scales, a black vertical band 

 at the base of the caudal fin, and black spinous dorsal and anal fins. 

 They were hardy and quickly adapted themselves to aquarium life, 

 feeding on small bits of raw fish, insects, and shrimps. 



In different parts of its range in Thailand this fish bears different 

 vernacular names not applied to other species. In the region of vast 

 lakes and swamps about the head of the Menam Chao Phya and the 

 lower Menam Nan in Central Thailand it is variously called fla ikoh, 

 pla itan, pla mor tan, and pla hai tan. In Nakon Sritamarat and other 

 parts of Peninsular Siam the name commonly in use is pla wee or wi. 



Genus OSPHRONEMUS Lacepede 



Osphronemus Lacep6de, Histoire naturelle des poissons, vol. 3, p. 116, 1802. 

 (Type, Osphronemus goramy Lacepede.) 



OSPHRONEMUS GORAMY Lacepede 



Osphroneme goramy Lacepede, 1802, vol. 3, pp. 116, 117 (France). 



Osphromenus olfax Bleeker, 1859-60 (239), p. 101 (Siam) ; 1865 (356), p. 173 



(Siam).— VON Maetens, 1876, p. 394 (Bangkok).— Kaeoli, 1882, p. 172 



(Siam).— BoTXLENGEE, 1903, p. 303 (Patani River). 

 Osphronemus olfax Sauvage, 1881, p. 160 (Siam). 

 Osphronemus goramy Webeb and de Beaufobt, 1922, vol. 4, p. 344 (Siam). — 



Smith, 1930, p. 59 (Siam) ; 1933c, p. 276 (Siam). 



The original habitat of this species is usually given as Java, Borneo, 

 Sumatra, and other East Indian islands. Lacepede (1802) stated it 

 was indigenous to China, but it has been naturalized in India and 

 various other parts of the world, and in some Oriental countries the 

 transplanting may have begun at an early date, so that it is now 

 difficult, if not impossible, to decide with certainty whether the fish 

 is native or introduced. This is true of Thailand. The fish is so 

 hardy and bears transportation so readily that it could easily have 

 been taken into Thailand from Sumatra, Borneo, or Java. There is, 

 however, no available history of such introduction, and there is no 

 record for Thailand, as there is of Java, of the cultivation of the 

 fish in ponds, although in south -central Thailand the goramy has been 



