The Mekong giant catfish and the giant freshwater stingray now share the record for largest freshwater fish species as it’s currently too close a call to award it to just one. It tipped the scales at 293 kg (646 lb) and measured 2.7 m (8 ft 11 in) from head to tail.
The previous largest freshwater fish specimen was a Mekong giant catfish ( Pangasianodon gigas) found in another stretch of the Mekong River – that time in Thailand – in June 2005. This isn’t the first record-breaker to emerge from the mysterious, little-explored waterways of mainland south-east Asia. It's very fortunate that the 'Wonders of the Mekong' team was on site, that the fishermen called us, and that the stingray was tagged and released." "While fishermen in Cambodia tell stories of stingrays up to 500 kg, we've never been able to verify these reports. "In 20 years of researching giant fish in rivers and lakes on six continents, working with hundreds of local scientists and fishermen, this is the largest freshwater fish that we’ve encountered or that’s been documented anywhere worldwide." - Dr Zeb Hogan, Wonders of the Mekong Director "This is an absolutely astonishing discovery and justifies efforts to better understand the mysteries surrounding this species and the incredible stretch of river where it lives."
LARGEST FRESHWATER FISH EVER CAUGHT SERIES
This was echoed by giant fish expert Dr Zeb Hogan, who presents the TV series Monster Fish but also serves as director of the "Wonders of the Mekong" initiative. "The size, grace, strength and wild energy of the animal was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced." – Dana Lee, fisheries biologist "The Mekong has always been somewhat of a mythical place in my mind and this creature almost seemed like the river personified." "Catching the first glimpse of the giant stingray as it was pulled from the depths was a magical moment for me," he told GWR. The record-breaking ray, which is an endangered species, was named Boramy ("full moon" in the Khmer language), owing to both her rounded disc-like shape and the early-evening time of her release.Īlthough discovered by locals, the measurements were taken by a team of international ichthyological experts working as part of the US-Cambodian "Wonders of the Mekong" project, in collaboration with the Cambodian Fisheries Administration.įisheries biologist Dana Lee, of FISHBIO, was among the scientists who helped to measure this river monster. The phenomenal fish, also known as a whipray, spanned 2.2 m (7 ft 2 in), meaning that if she were placed on a ping-pong table, her outer "wings" would overhang each side by a foot (30 cm). The female giant freshwater stingray ( Urogymnus polylepis) weighed approximately 300 kg (661 lb) – about the same as a typical grizzly bear – and had a total length of 3.98 m (13 ft) with tail included, making her longer than a pickup truck! Fishermen in the Stung Treng region of northern Cambodia made a historic catch on 13 June 2022 when they hauled in the largest freshwater fish to ever be officially recorded.
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