Caught the world’s largest freshwater fish – 300 kilograms

The giant rock breaks the previous size record held by a 293-kilo Mekong giant template caught in Thailand in 2005, according to the US-funded research project Wonders of the Mekong.

The four-meter-long javelin, including the tail, was caught last week in Stung Treng province in northern Cambodia.

“During 20 years of research on giant fish in rivers and lakes on six continents, this is the largest freshwater fish we have encountered or documented anywhere in the world,” said Zeb Hogan, a fish biologist leading the research project in a statement.

“This is an absolutely astonishing discovery, and justifies efforts to better understand the mysteries surrounding this species and the incredible stretch of river in which it lives.”

To be tracked

The researchers equipped the rock with a so-called acoustic tag, a sound-emitting device, before the demersal fish were released back into the river. The purpose is for researchers to be able to learn more about the animal’s behavior.

The fisherman who pulled up the record coat was rewarded with 600 dollars, about 6,000 Swedish kronor, for the catch.

In May, a fisherman in the same province caught a four-meter-long and 180-kilo endangered rock in the same province.

Over 1,000 fish species

More than 1,000 fish species are found in the Mekong River, several of them really large. In addition to the coats, there are the Mekong giant catfish and the Siamese giant carp. But researchers have warned that plastic debris threatens wildlife, even in the deepest parts of the river, where there are “ghost nets” – fishing nets left by fishermen but which can still catch fish.

Environmental activists have long expressed concern that dams are being built along the Mekong River, which is seen as a threat to entire fish stocks.

The river begins in China and leads south through parts of Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam.