An additional specimen was taken in November from a fishing channel in one of the streams flowing from the Borapet Swamp, near Paknampo, Central Siam. The color of the back of this fish blends in with the water and makes the fish almost invisible from above, except for the two brilliant caerulean spots on the top of the head and median.
ART. 7 NEW SIAMESE FISHES SMITH 11 The nearly uniform rich velvety black of the body and most of the
This species is named in honor of Dr. Alexander Wetmore, Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in charge of the United States National Museum. Colour: Upper body and top and sides of head greenish, below silvery white; a row of four round black spots on the side, the first near the head, the second below the back, the third above the anal origin, the fourth on the caudal stalk on both sides of the lateral line; one-.
AKT. 7 NEW SIAMESE PISHES SMITH 15
Description.—Moderately elongated, body and head strongly compressed; predorsal profile very slightly elevated, with a slight concavity nape and aminor convexity on back; depth 3.5 in standard length; smallest depth of caudal peduncle less than 0.5 head; eye 3.5 in head, 1 in snout, 1 in interorbital space; mouth small, oblique, jaws about equal, maxillary extending to a point below anterior margin of eye; no catfish; lateral line bent down, running in lower half of caudal peduncle; scales in lateral series 34, in transverse series 7 above lateral line, 4.5 below lateral line, 2 between lateral line and base of ventral, 17 before dorsal, 12 around caudal peduncle; scales along midrib marked by 10 to 12 parallel striae. Fins: Dorsal rays ii.7, longest branched ray 1.5 in head and more than 0.5 depth of body; origin of dorsal far in front of anal, midway between base of tail and anterior fourth of eye, about fourteenth scale of lateral line; tail longer than head,.
18 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL. 79
In life, the species is conspicuous for the jet black areas on the interradial membranes in the back and the orange lower fins. The local Siamese name for the fish in the type locality is pla Im hin (rock-lapping fish). All the fins have the interradial dermal flanges seen in other mountain streams.
Description.-Elongated, slightly compressed, greatest depth of body 4.6 in standard length; least depth of caudal peduncle 1.5 in length and 0.5 depth of body; head small, conical, its length 4.75 in length without caudal; eye 4.25 in head, 2 in snout, 2 in convex interorbital space; a pair of rostral barbels about 0.5 eye, no maxillary barbels; upper lip long, deeply fringed with 15 pits.
NEW SIAMESE FISHES SMITH 21 eastward into the Gulf of Siam through the town of Nakon Srita-
22 PROCESSING OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.79 when the mouth is closed; no dumbbells; branchial membranes broadly united to the isthmus, with the branchial openings not extending below the preopercle; scales large, lateral line complete; all fins well developed; Its notable features are its very deep and compressed body; the highly modified mandible in which the lips are confined to the sides and the central part forms a strong, slender, sharp-edged scoop; the strong, bony, serrated last simple ray in the dorsal fin; the numerous branched dorsal rays; and the presence of a strong, bony, toothless simple ray in the anal fin. Description.— Body oval, strongly compressed, depth 2 in standard length; largest body width about 0.25 deep and equal to snout and eye; back profile strongly curved, a slight concavity in the neck; dorsum anterior to dorsal fin compressed into a moderately sharp edge; head short, compressed, bluntly pointed, 4.35 long.
6.5-1^.5 in transverse rows, 3.5 rows between lateral line and base of ventrals, 12 in predorsal region, and 16 around narrowest part of cadualpeduncle; deep scaly mantle at base of base.
ART. 7 NEW SIAMESE FISHES SMITH 23
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ART. 7 NEW SIAMESE FISHES— SMITH 25 under posterior part of dorsal and anterior end of adipose to below
Color: Back and top of head, grass green; sides and underparts white; from the green color of the forewing, a conical green band extends back along the lateral line for about half the length of the body, and below this a shorter and broader green band extends back and down; fins mostly hyaline, tail green at base, anal pink. From related species this form can be distinguished by its very compressed shape, vented abdomen, large eye, short barbell jaw, four spots of teeth on the vomer and palate. Description.- Fairly strong form, body compressed and deep, head sunken and.very broad; pre-dorsal fin profile straight and distinctly raised, forming an angle of 30° with the horizontal axis of the body; depth of body below spine 3.5 in standard length, above origin of anal 4.3 in length; caudal peduncle short, less than 2 in length; head 3.5 standard length, its width.
ART. 7 NEW SIAMESE FISHES — SMITH 27
Description.—Moderately elongated; body rather strongly com- . appressed, its width at the beginning of the anal fin a little more than one-third .. its depth, depth 3.75 in standard length; caudal p)eduncle twice as long as deep, its least depth equal to the distance from the eye to the pectoral ridge; head covered with smooth skin, short, obtuse, conical, dense. Color: Back and top of main green; sides and belly white; a lateral green band widest at the shoulder and a broad oblique green band from the shoulder to a point on the side above the end of the ventrals; dorsal and tail fins with a dark border, other fins plain. In that fish, however, the vomero-palatine teeth form a regular crescent, the band of maxillary teeth is less curved, the anal rays number iv.24 to iv.30, the anal base is contained 3.6 to 4 times in standard length, and the coloration is different.
ABT. 7 NEW SIAMESE FISHES SMITH 29 The fish at Lopburi shares with related forms the name pla
30 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.79 . strong limb weakly serrate on its posterior side and 0.4 total length of ray; dorsally branched rays gradually shorten, so that the last ray is only 1.5 times the diameter of the eye, and the posterior edge of the fin is almost vertical; dorsal base short, 2.5 in head; adipose fin small, its length less than base of back, distance between fins 3 times length of base of back; caudal large, longer than head, deeply keeled, lobes pointed; anal rays iv,26, longest ray equal to postorbital part of head; base of fin 2.5 base of dorsal and somewhat less than 0.25 standard length; first ray of ventral ventral threads and extends beyond middle of anal; pectoral spine similar to spine in size and serrations, its filamentous apex along spine and extending to anal. Type.— The type specimen in the collection of the Siamese Fisheries Department was taken in Menam Chao Phya at Koh. Description.- Body rather stout, moderately compressed, depth slightly less than 0.25 in length to coccyx; least depth of caudal peduncle .5 postorbital part of head; head conical, its depth about.
Fins: Dorsal rays i, 7, height greater than depth of body and equal to distance from posterior nostril to branchial opening, base of fin much less than 0.5 its height, spine very long slender, longer than head without snout, serrated distally on both anterior and posterior surfaces; base of adipose fin equal to base of soft dorsal and separated from dorsal by 2.5 times its length; caudal deeply cleft, lobes acute, upper lobe longer; anal rays iv,14, longest equal to body height at anal origin and somewhat longer than base of fin, posterior margin emarginate; ventrals less than 0.5 head length; thorax about equal to head without snout, spine slender less than spine and notched at both ends.
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AET. 7 NEW SIAMESE FISHES SMITH 33
34 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOLUME 79! . under the pupil; small teeth in bands in each jaw; caudal peduncle long and thin, its least depth 3 in length; scales large, slightly ctenoid, absent from head and body anterior to first spine, 8 rows of scales in transverse series below origin of second spine, 9 scales around narrowest part of caudal peduncle. These sexes can be easily distinguished by the shape of the genital papilla: short, broad and truncate in females, long, slender and pointed in males, as in Mistichthys and various other gobies. If there is a difference in the average size of the male and female. the fish is not marked.
The numerical disproportion of the sexes is shown from other collections, as for example op.
36 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL. 79
ART. 7 NEW SIAMESE FISHES SMITH 37
Fins: Dorsal rays V-I,7; first spine somewhat shorter than the second and third, contained 3.5 in the length of the head and more than 2 in.
AET. 7 NEW SIAMESE FISHES SMITH 39 PIPIDONIA, new genus
AlbertW.Herre, formerly of the Philippine Bureau of Science, in appreciation of his invaluable monograph Gobies of the Philippines and the China Sea (Manila, 1927). Description.- Body moderately compressed, rather elongated; back not curved, but dorsal profile slightly curved from behind eyes to tip of snout; depth 4.5 in standard length, least depth of tail foot 2 in head; head 3.3 in standard length, its width equal to depth; mouth wide, oblique, posterior end of maxillary reach vertical from anterior edge of eye; tongue cut off; teeth in 4 or 5 irregular rows in the anterior part of each jaw, the rows diminishing in. number on sides, outer row in each leg enlarged and dog-like, the largest being a backward-bent pair on side of lower jaw, some of the inner teeth in lower jaw also enlarged; lower jaw .. slightly the longer, the enlarged teeth protrude in front of upper jaw when mouth is closed; cheeks tumbled; anterior nostrils tubular, posterior nostrils large, open, before lower half of eye, with a large pore above; eyes latero-superior, slanting upwards and outwards, 1.5 in snout and less than 1 diameter apart; scales on body. large, ctenoid, about 40 in lateral series, 13 in transverse series between origin of second dorsal and anal, 10 around narrowest part of caudal peduncle; scales before dorsal about 34, small, cycloid, extending to a point slightly in front of posterior margin of eyes; .. a compact patch of small scales on the upper edge of the operculum and cheek, and a few scattered scales on the upper half of the cheek as far forward as eye; interorbital space and snout naked; base of pectoral and caudal thickness scaled; a large anal papilla. Fins: Dorsal formula VI-I,10; spines first dorsally long, slender, the tips of the third to sixth reaching second dorsal when depressed .. second dorsal separated from first dorsal by a space equal to the diameter of the eye, the rays long, the posteriors the longest and reaches the base of the tail when pressed; anal rays 1.9, similar to second dorsal; tail broad, rounded, its length greater than head less . snout; ventral width, as long as postorbital part of the head, the frenum.
Color (when alive): Body and head light brown; center of side with 4 rather diffuse dark brown spots, the first under the spine, the last at the base of the caudal fin; 4 similar dorsal spots alternating with the others; a round blackish spot the size of the eye at the top of the gill opening; the first dorsal fin is a rich brown, the most intense color on either side of the fifth and sixth rays, the fourth, fifth and sixth.
ART. 7 NEW SIAMESE FISHES SMITH 45
Description.— The body is elongated, moderately compressed, the greatest depth (at the beginning of the first dorsal fin) covers 6 times the standard length; head large, much deeper and wider than body, its length 3.3 in standard length, depth and width equal; profile between eyes and dorsal fin straight and almost horizontal, front profile very steep, almost vertical; the muzzle is blunt, its length is slightly greater than the diameter of the eye; mouth large terminal, slightly oblique, lips thick and papillose; the gap extends to a point below the posterior part of the eye and maxilla extending to half the diameter of the eye beyond the vertical. Fins: dorsal rays VI-I,10; anal rays 1.9; first dorsal part rather high, anterior spines longer than body depth, tips slightly convex; the second dorsal part is similar to the anal, but its base is longer; posterior rays of second dorsal and anal segments longer and extending caudally when depressed; tail large, wide, pointed, its length exceeds the head; abdominal muscles rather wide, rounded, do not reach the opening, their length is slightly longer than the postorbital part of the head; pectorals shorter than abdominal ones, their base is fleshy. Colour: The whole body is uniformly reddish brown without spots; head somewhat lighter and richer brown, with cheeks and eyes crossed by about 8 narrow, oblique, widely separated dark brown streaks extending downward and forward, this line.
Remarks.—Of the half-dozen species of Apocryptodon known from India, the Malay Archipelago, and the Philippines, this species appears for the most part to be closely related to A.
