![]() ![]() It also announced that giant freshwater stingrays are now tied with Mekong giant catfish as the world’s largest freshwater fish species. Guinness World Records certified the milestone on June 24, declaring the Kaoh Preah stingray to be the largest freshwater fish on record. After maneuvering the giant fish onto three scales placed next to each other, the researchers were shocked to see her weight: At 661 pounds, she set a new world record. But Thun had been right about her enormous size: more than 13 feet from snout to tail. It was so big, he said, that it might even be a different species.Īrriving at Kaoh Preah, the team determined that Thun’s fish, a female that appeared to be in good health, was the same ray species known to occur in the Mekong. The fisherman told a team member he’d accidentally caught a giant freshwater stingray “much bigger” than any he had previously seen. Until last week, that is, when the USAID-supported research team that Hogan leads in Cambodia, Wonders of the Mekong, got a call from Moul Thun. ![]() While encountering numerous giants-like the air-breathing arapaima in the Amazon, and the pigeon-eating wels catfish in Europe-he could not find any scientifically documented catches of a freshwater fish larger than the one that had sparked his search. Not only were fishermen prone to telling tall tales, but he also faced logistical challenges, a lack of scientific information on freshwater fish, and evidence that was impossible to verify, including old drawings and photographs. ![]() But the answer to his question proved more elusive than Hogan had expected. Intent on finding out, Hogan began scouring watersheds around the world, often as the host of National Geographic television’s Monster Fish show. But then he started to wonder: Were there even larger river giants elsewhere? Hogan, who had spent years in Southeast Asia studying the Mekong giant catfish, as the species is known, concluded it was the largest-that is, the heaviest-ever caught in the area. Hogan’s quest for big fish, dubbed the Megafishes Project and supported by National Geographic Society, began in 2005 when fishermen in northern Thailand pulled a 646-pound catfish out of the Mekong River. ![]()
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