. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. FRESH-WATER FISHES OF SIAM, OR THAILAND 57 interesting habits. In Thailand it abounds in the rivers, canals, and swamps of the central plain and is one of the best-known fishes, always rendering itself conspicuous by its habit of coming to the surface, mak- ing a splash, rolling over, and exposing its broad silvery side. A length of more than a meter is attained in India, the greatest length reported in the Indo-Australian Archipelago is cm., and fishes a meter long have very rarely been observed in Thailand in recent years, the size us
. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. FRESH-WATER FISHES OF SIAM, OR THAILAND 57 interesting habits. In Thailand it abounds in the rivers, canals, and swamps of the central plain and is one of the best-known fishes, always rendering itself conspicuous by its habit of coming to the surface, mak- ing a splash, rolling over, and exposing its broad silvery side. A length of more than a meter is attained in India, the greatest length reported in the Indo-Australian Archipelago is cm., and fishes a meter long have very rarely been observed in Thailand in recent years, the size usually being TO to 75 cm. Thai examples of Notoyterus chitala always exhibit a longitudinal series of black spots on the side above the anal fin, each spot often hav- ing a well-defined white ring around it. The spots number from 5 to 10 on each side, and there may be a difference of 1 or 2 spots on the two sides of a given fish. This color phase in Siamese fishes is in strong contrast with that observed in fishes in the Indo-Australian Archi- pelago, which are usually immaculate, although Weber and de Beaufort state that rarely there is a series of 4 or 5 black spots in the caudal Figure 1.—Notopterus chitala (Hamilton). Drawn by Nai Chote Suvatti; courtesy of the Thailand Government. By the time the young have reached a length of 3 to cm., 10 to 15 blackish or dark gray cross bands appear; at a length of 7 to 8 cm., when the fishes are about 70 days old, a dark brown rounded or elliptical spot appears at the lower ]3art of each of the posterior cross bands; with further growth the cross bands begin to grow faint and finally dis- appear, while the spots become more intense and persist throughout adult life. Noto'ptei'us chitala subsists on insects, shrimps, and especially small surface-swimming fishes, including the halfbeak Zenarchoptenis ectuntio (Hamilton), the archerfish Toxotes jaculatiix (Pallas), and various cyprinoids. This fish has unique spawning habit
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