Boundaries

This ecoregion encompasses the Mae Khlong basin in Thailand and smaller coastal basins southwards to the Pran Buri basin. It also includes subterranean systems in northern Thailand.

Terrestrial habitats

This ecoregion comprises a handful of terrestrial ecoregions, including the Kayah-Karen montane rain forests, Central Indochina dry forests, Chao Phraya freshwater swamp forests, Tenasserim-South Thailand semi-evergreen rain forests, Chao Phraya lowland moist deciduous forests, and Indochina mangroves (Wikramanayake et al. 2002).

Description of endemic fishes

This ecoregion contains around 10 known endemics, such as Amblyceps variegatum from the Mae Khlong basin and Schistura jarutanini from subterranean streams in Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand (IUCN 2012). However, most are still unreported in scientific literature (M. Kottelat pers. comm. 2006).

Justification for delineation

For Southeast Asia, delineations were determined using a bottom-up approach that employed both published and unpublished field data and expert assessment (Abell et al. 2008; Kottelat 1989). This ecoregion has a fauna generally similar to the Chao Phraya ecoregion [732], but with the presence of numerous species identical or closely related to species of the Salween basin [ecoregion 722]. It includes several small endorheic basins and subterranean systems in karstic areas, several inhabited by endemic cave fishes and crustaceans. The floodplain is heavily impacted by urban, industrial and agricultural development. Several species are considered extinct. (M. Kottelat pers. comm. 2006)

Level of taxonomic exploration

This ecoregion is under-surveyed. There are many species new to science in recent years. (M. Kottelat pers. comm. 2006)