452 BULLETIN 188, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



kept for many years and attained a large size in ponds in the com- 

 pounds of certain Buddhist temples. 



The goramy occurs in open waters in tributaries of tlie Menam Chao 

 Phya in Central Thailand and the Tapi River and the Inland Sea 

 in Peninsular Thailand. The most abundant supply is in the Tapi 

 River, and especially in its lakelike expansion known as IQiun Tale 

 some distance above the town of Bandon. Specimens seined there in 

 September 1923 were 33 to 47 cm. long; a definite record of 50 cm. was 

 obtained for a fish taken in September 1924, and the local fishermen 

 report a maximum length of 60 cm. 



The reputation that this fish has as food in other parts of its natu- 

 ral and extended range is not borne in Thailand, where the flesh is 

 considered of somewhat rank flavor. Cultivation in suitable ponds, 

 with selected food, would no doubt improve its comestible qualities, 

 and the fish has been strongly recommended for pond culture in 

 Thailand. 



It is interesting to note, as bearing on the question whether this 

 species was indigenous to Thailand, that the vernacular name gourami 

 applied to this fish in the East Indies has not been adopted in Thai- 

 land, even in the parts largely populated by Malays. The names given 

 by the Thai are pla min in the Peninsula and pla raet (rhinoceros 

 fish) in the Central area. Sauvage (1881) attributed to Dr. Bocourt 

 the following note in regard to Osphronemus olfax in Thailand : "Ce 

 poisson, dont la chair est tres delicate, est designe a Siam sous le nom 

 pla-duk." This is in error ; pla duk is the Thai name for catfishes of 

 the genus Clarias and has never been applied to any other fishes. 



Genus TRICHOPSIS Kner 



TricJwpsis Kner, in Canestrini, Verb, zool.-bot. Ges. Wien, vol. 10, Abh., pp. 702, 

 708, 1S60. (Type, Trichopsis striatus Bleeker.) 



TRICHOPSIS VITTATUS (Cuvier and Valenciennes) 

 FiGUKE 97 



Osphromenus vittatus Cuvieb and Valenciennes, 1831, vol. 7, p. 387 (Java). 

 Trichopus striatus Bleekeb, 1859-60 (239), p. 101 (Siam). — Sauvage, 1S81, p. 



160 (Siam). 

 Osphromenus striatus Guntheb, 1861, vol. 8, p. 386 (Siam, local variety). — 



Bleeker, 1865 (347), p. 34 (Siam) ; 1865 (356), p. 173 (Siam).— Eaeoli, 1882, 



p. 172 (Siam). 

 Ctenops vittatus Regan, 1910, p. 776 (Siam). — Webeb nnd de Beaufort, 1922, vol. 



4, 351 (Siam).— HoBA, 1923b, p. 182 (Bangkok); 1924a, p. 482 (inner and 



outer lakes, Tale Sap). 

 Trichopsis harrisi Fowlek, 1934b, p. 348, figs. 11, 12 (Krat) ; 1937, p. 222 



(Bangkok). 

 Trichopsis vittatus Fowler, 1937, p. 222 (Mepoon). 



The range of this species includes Java, Borneo, Sumatra, Malaya, 

 Indo-China, and Thailand. It is found throughout Central, Penin- 



