Kittipong Jaruthanin ( or spelt Kittipong Jarutanin; born 1958 in

Din Daeng District Din Daeng (, ) is one of the 50 districts (''khet'') of Bangkok, Thailand. Its neighbours, clockwise from north, are Chatuchak, Huai Khwang, Ratchathewi, and Phaya Thai. History The district was created in 1993, when the eastern part of Phay ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

) is a Thai nature explorer, collector, aquarist, aquarium trader and

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

. Although he did not graduate in science or biology, he is considered one of Thailand's leading freshwater fish specialists, he took on the alias ''"River Fish Tycoon"'' and ''"Indiana Jones Thailand"''.

Early life

Jaruthanin became interested in freshwater fish in childhood and has worked with freshwater fish collection since 1975. He became serious in 1982 from studying paradise threadfin ('' Polynemus paradiseus'') at the mouth of

Bangkok Noi Canal file:Khlongbangkoknoi050624b.jpg, 250px, Khlong Bangkok Noi near Wat Si Sudaram Khlong Bangkok Noi (, ; lit 'Small Bangkok Canal') is a ''khlong'' (คลอง; canal) in Bangkok; its name is the origin of the name Bangkok Noi District. The mout ...

near

Phra Pin-klao Bridge The Somdet Phra Pinklao Bridge (, , ) is a bridge near the Grand Palace over the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, Thailand. It links Rattanakosin Island with Thonburi. Background The bridge is named after Pinklao, vice-king of Siam, 1851–1866. I ...

. He is regarded as the first person in the world to be able to raise wild caught this species of fish to survive in captivity.

Career

He explores nature and rivers throughout every region of Thailand and neighboring countries such as

Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth-longest river and the third-longest in Asia with an estimated length of and a drainage area of , discharging of wat ...

Mae Klong The Mae Klong (, , ), sometimes spelled Meklong, is a river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, o ...

Salween The Salween is a Southeast Asian river, about long, flowing from the Tibetan Plateau south into the Andaman Sea. The Salween flows primarily within southwest China and eastern Myanmar, with a short section forming the border of Myanmar and Tha ...

Chao Phraya The Chao Phraya River is the major river in Thailand, with its low alluvial plain forming the centre of the country. It flows through Bangkok and then into the Gulf of Thailand. Etymology Written evidence of the river being referred to by the ...

Basins or Sirindhorn Peat Swamp Forest, the largest peat swamp in Thailand. He is the discoverer and colleague

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository f ...

of freshwater fish, including various species of aquatic animals, to study and taxonomy as many new species of the world such as

giant freshwater stingray The giant freshwater stingray (''Urogymnus polylepis'', also widely known by the junior synonym ''Himantura chaophraya'') is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae. It is found in large rivers and estuaries in Southeast Asia and Borneo, ...

('' Himantura chaophraya''), thinlip barb (''

Probarbus labeaminor ''Probarbus labeaminor'', the thinlip barb, is a species of freshawater ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae, the family which includes the carps, barbs, minnows and related fishes. The thinlip barb is Endemism to the Mekong in Laos, Thiland ...

''), '' Schistura jarutanini'', '' S. kaysonei'' or

roughback whipray The roughback whipray (''Fluvitrygon kittipongi'') is a rare species of freshwater stingray in the family Dasyatidae, found over sandy bottoms in the Mae Klong and Chao Phraya Rivers of Thailand. Growing no more than across, this small ray has ...

(''Himantura kittipongi'') and Burmese narrow-headed softshell turtle (''Chitra vandijki'') etc.Kittipong Jaruthanin, กริวดาว... เสียดาย! สูญพันธุ์ตั้งแต่ยังไม่ได้เกิด (What a shame! The Extinct Narrow-Headed Softshell Turtle) นิตยสาร Aquarium Biz Vol.1 Issue 11 (May 2011) In the case of Burmese narrow-headed softshell turtle, he studied himself until he was sure that it was truly a new species of softshell turtle in the world. But with the delay of the data transmission process, causing the

scientific name In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

he designated to be only unfortunately

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

(

nomen nudum In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, a ''nomen nudum'' ('naked name'; plural ''nomina nuda'') is a designation which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be one, but it has not been published ...

). He is an invited writer for many aquarium magazines in Thailand. Moreover, he is the owner of an aquarium shop, focusing on wild caught fish at the Sunday Market within

Chatuchak Weekend Market The Chatuchak Weekend Market (, ), on Kamphaeng Phet 2 Road, Chatuchak, Bangkok, is the largest market in Thailand. Also known as JJ Market, it has more than 15,000 stalls and 11,505 vendors (2019), divided into 27 sections. Chatuchak Market se ...

. He operates a small zoo called ''"Home Zoo"'', collecting

exotic pet An exotic pet is a pet which is relatively rare or unusual to keep, or is generally thought of as a Wild animal, wild species rather than as a Domesticated animal, domesticated pet. The definition varies by culture, location, and over time—as an ...

s and rare species such as

capybara The capybara or greater capybara (''Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris'') is the largest living rodent, native to South America. It is a member of the genus '' Hydrochoerus''. The only other extant member is the lesser capybara (''Hydrochoerus isthmi ...

(''Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris''),

flamingos Flamingos or flamingoes () are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbe ...

Asian narrow-headed softshell turtle The Asian narrow-headed softshell turtle (''Chitra chitra'') is a large species of softshell turtle in the family Trionychidae. The species is endemic to Southeast Asia. Common names ''Chitra chitra'' is also known commonly as Nutaphand's narro ...

(''Chitra chitra''), Malaysian giant turtle (''Orlitia borneensis''), albino

elephant trunk snake The elephant trunk snake or the Javan file snake (''Acrochordus javanicus''), is a species of snake in the family Acrochordidae, a family which represents a group of primitive non-venomous aquatic snakes. Description The elephant trunk snake po ...

(''Acrochordus javanicus''),

Australian lungfish The Australian lungfish (''Neoceratodus forsteri''), also known as the Queensland lungfish, Burnett salmon and barramunda, is the only surviving member of the family Neoceratodontidae. It is one of only six extant lungfish species in the world. ...

(''Neoceratodus forsteri''),

Lyle's flying fox Lyle's flying fox (''Pteropus lylei'') is a species of flying fox in the family Pteropodidae. It is found in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, with an outlying population in Yunnan, China. It faces persecution from farmers and it is killed for bus ...

(''Pteropus lylei''),

Chinese water dragon ''Physignathus cocincinus'' is a species of agamid lizard native to southern China and mainland Southeast Asia. It is Common name, commonly known as the Chinese water dragon, Indochinese water dragon, Asian water dragon, Thai water dragon, or gr ...

(''Physignathus cocincinus'') including

coco de mer ''Lodoicea'', commonly known as the sea coconut, coco de mer, or double coconut, is a monotypic genus in the palm family. The sole species, ''Lodoicea maldivica'', is endemic to the islands of Praslin and Curieuse in the Seychelles. It has th ...

(''Lodoicea maldivica'') also one moment.Kittipong Jaruthanin, เปิดตำนานเจ้าพ่อปลาแม่น้ำ "กิตติพงษ์ จารุธาณินทร์" (Interviews with River Legendary "Kittipong Jaruthanin"), Aquarium Biz, Vol. 1 Issue 2 (August 2010)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaruthanin, Kittipong Living people Taxon authorities Kittipong Jaruthanin 1958 births Zoo owners Kittipong Jaruthanin