Zeb Hogan, left, tags a 400-pound giant catfish that was caught in fishing nets on the Tonle Sap River in Phnom Penh, Nov. Megafish numbers in particular fell by a shocking 94%, according to one study of more than 200 large freshwater species. In a new book, “ Chasing Giants: In Search of the World’s Largest Freshwater Fish,” Hogan and I tell the troubling story of the 30 or so fish species that live exclusively in rivers and lakes and can grow to more than 200 pounds or at least 6 feet (1.8 meters) long.įound on all continents except Antarctica, they are a wonderfully weird bunch of creatures, from colossal catfish and carp to gargantuan gars.īut freshwater vertebrate populations have declined over the past five decades at twice the rate experienced by species within terrestrial or marine ecosystems. She has been sending back clues about stingrays’ elusive behavior ever since.

As a group, these megafish are among the most endangered animals on the planet.The world’s largest freshwater fish confirmed so far is a stingray caught in the Mekong River.īefore releasing the female ray back into the river, Hogan’s research team put an acoustic tracker on her. The discovery marked a milestone in fish biologist Zeb Hogan’s more than two-decade quest to study and protect giant freshwater fish. Weighing an astounding 661 pounds, the stingray surpassed by 15 pounds a giant catfish caught in Thailand in 2005 that had previously been considered the unofficial record holder. Until 2022, that is, when fishers in Cambodia caught a giant freshwater stingray in the remote reaches of the Mekong River. While we know the biggest animal in the ocean is the blue whale and the largest marine fish is the whale shark, the identity of the world’s largest freshwater fish species long remained a mystery.

(The Conversation) – Rivers have been the lifeblood of human civilization throughout history, and yet we know surprisingly little about what lives in many of them – including the giant creatures that prowl their depths.

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