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I made two trips to Thailand in January 2016 and January 2017 to collect and photograph fishes of the country, working with two local ichthyologists, Dr. Nonn Panitvong and Mr. Anuratana Tejavej (aka Tony).   In 2016 we focused along the western border with Myanmar, especially in the Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, and around Ubon Ratchathani near the Mekong River on the eastern border with Laos with Dr. Chaiwut Grudpan.  Over nine days we documented 116 species in 34 families including one undescribed red-tailed Garra, which was formally described in 2023 by Dr. Larry Page and named after Nonn, Garra panitvongi. (Shown below.)

I returned in 2017 determined to spend more time in the country.  Again, with the help of Nonn, Tony, and their friends, we focused on areas to the north and southeast close to Bangkok and much further to the north near Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.  We ended the trip on a non-fishy note interacting with mammals at the Khao Ya National Park. After 14 days, we had documented 114 species in 29 families, including the first record of Esomus caudiocellatus from Thailand.  For the two trips, the total was 192 species in 40 families.  

While a teenager growing up in central Iowa, Fritz regularly attended the Greater Iowa Aquarium Society meetings in Des Moines where he first met Dr. Gene Lucas, founder of the International Betta Congress.  Later while studying fisheries at Iowa State University, he was privileged to get to know Dr. Joanne Norton, expert in angelfish genetics and developer of many exotic finned platys/swordtails.

Currently employed as a fish biologist for NOAA Fisheries Service based in North Carolina, Fritz is working on passage of migratory fishes at dams throughout the Southeast.  In his career he has literally studied fishes from the Appalachian Mountains to the deepwater coral reefs in the abyss in the Atlantic Ocean off North Carolina.   In his “spare” time, Fritz works with five colleagues on the NCFishes.com team (check out their website).  He is also an active member of the North American Native Fishes Association (NANFA) and is co-editor of their journal American Currents.

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