Endangered Animal: The World's Largest Freshwater Fish

Weighing in at over six hundred pounds (646 to be exact), and almost nine feet long, a Mekong giant catfish was caught in May of 2005, in the Mekong river in northern Thailand, by a team of fisherman, who took more than an hour to bring the gargantuan fish in. That particular fish (as listed by the Genesis World Record) holds the record for largest freshwater fish ever caught! They tried to harvest eggs from the fish before releasing it, but the fish died, and instead of wasting the meat, it was sold to locals.

This giant catfish (technically known as Pangasianodon gigas) is actually part of the shark catfish family, and calls home the Mekong basin (located in Southeast Asia), and can grow to be a stunning 3 meters and weigh up to as much as 300 kilograms.

As you can imagine, these fish are in danger of extinction (are in fact listed as 'critical' just two steps below extinct!). Some people believe that eating catfish is lucky, so there is a demand for it's meat despite the ban in several location of fishing for the Mekong.

There is also concern that a dam that had been built is negatively affecting the catfish, perhaps through their much needed spawning ground. There have been efforts to study this and see if this is actually a contributing factor, and one such study done by World Commissions of Dams believes that the population dropped from over 200 of the fish to less than a hundred. The current number of fish alive today is not available, but is believed to be critically low.

There are so many factors against these giants that it is a wonder we are able to learn anything about them at all. The loss of their habitat and breeding ground, their desirability as a food source... it is why the National Geographic and others are teaming up to try and find new ways to protect these fish.

A picture speaks a thousand words, especially one featuring a giant fish, and although I cannot post a picture, I will provide you a link to National Geographic's website, where they have four exclusive photos of the fish for viewing (click here).

I am passionate about endangered animals (see my profile for additional articles, including the rare pink river dolphin), and believe that if we all do something that these living pieces of our amazing planet can be preserved for future generations.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_giant_catfish
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/06/0629_050629_giantcatfish.html
http://geocities.com/zoomfishing/History.html